Progress Report:  Building Health Promotion Into the National Agenda

We are making excellent progress in our Building Health Promotion Into the National Agenda efforts.  These include staging a conference in Washington D.C., introducing a resolution in the US Senate and House of Representatives, attracting new collaborators, and developing our web site.

Resolutions in the US Senate and House of Representatives

A resolution titled “Building Health Promotion into the National Agenda 2001” was introduced in the US Senate on February 14 by Senator Dianne Feinstein of California, in cooperation with original co-sponsors Senators Larry Craig of Idaho, Michael Crapo of Idaho, and Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico.   A similar resolution titled “National Health Promotion Resolution of 2001” is in the process of being introduced in the House of Representatives by Congressman Gene Green of Texas.  The Senate resolution starts by, “Expressing the sense of the Congress to fully use the powers of the Federal Government to enhance the science base required to more fully develop the field of health promotion and disease prevention, and to explore how strategies can be developed to integrate lifestyle improvement programs into national policy, our health care system, schools, workplaces, families and communities.”  The full text is on the adjacent pages.

The purpose of these resolutions is two-fold.  First, we are starting an intensive dialogue with the Congress of the United States on health promotion.  Through these resolutions, we are asking members of Congress to agree with us that the science of health promotion does need to be enhanced through federal support and that strategies need to be developed to integrate health promotion concepts in all areas of society.  In voting “yes” for these resolutions, they are saying they agree with us.  This is an important step forward, but only the first step of a very long march. A Congressional resolution is only a statement of intent;  it does not include any commitment of money or action.  By itself, the resolution gives us no more than some excitement which will soon pass.  We need to follow-up with specific legislation as described below. 

Second, the resolution provides a vehicle through which health promotion professionals can start to get to know their Senators and Representatives and convert them into health promotion champions.  On February 15, as part of our Art and Science of Health Promotion Conference (see HealthPromotionConference.org), over 300 people met with their Senators and Representatives, or their aides, to talk about the importance of health promotion and to ask for support for these resolutions.  In most cases, these health promotion professionals had never before spoken to the offices of their elected officials in Congress.  Our hope is that each of these 300 people continues this dialogue over many years.  In our single afternoon on the Hill, over a dozen senators and  representatives emerged to tell us they were very interested in serving as champions of  future health promotion legislation.

We need your help to pass these resolutions and to keep the momentum flowing.  Please contact both of your Senators and your Representative to ask them to support these resolutions.  If they have already signed on, thank them for doing so.  Special thanks should go to the Senators and Representatives listed above who served as introducers or original co-sponsors.  Call the US Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 to reach your Senator or Representative, or visit our web site (see below) for more details on other contact methods.  Your first contact will be the hardest because it is a new experience for you.  Hopefully, it will be one of many contacts.

Web Site

We have created a web site devoted exclusively to this effort.  The web site will include progress reports, instructions for contacting Congress, and lists of collaborating organizations, as well as resources that can be used in your advocacy efforts. The web site address is HealthPromotionAdvocacy.org.

Collaborators

To be effective, this advocacy effort must involve a broad spectrum of professional associations, health care organizations, educational institutions, advocacy groups, and other types of organizations who share our goals. During the past few months, we have confirmed over 50 organizations who have “signed on” as official endorsers of this effort.  These are listed on our web site (HealthPromotionAdvocacy.org.)

Next Steps

Through formal communication between members of Congress and each of the agencies within the Department of Health and Human Services, we are working to document current health promotion efforts and outline what needs to be done to enhance the health promotion efforts of each of these agencies.  We are having similar conversations with representatives of the White House to determine their interest in these activities.  Finally, we are reviewing the health promotion priorities of members of Congress to determine where our greatest support lies.  Through these processes, we are determining what type of legislation or other federal intervention will have the greatest impact on enhancing the health promotion field, and what efforts will have the greatest change of being accepted by federal agencies, the White House, and Congress.  Through this process, we will determine specific legislation to create and other federal interventions to advocate.

 Call for Conference Proposals

Planning is already underway for next year’s Art and Science of Health Promotion Conference.  We will meet in Lake Tahoe, Nevada, from February 25 to March 1, 2002, to discuss our theme of “Creating a New Vision for Health Promotion.”  Details about the conference and submitting proposals can be found on pages 270 and 271 of this issue.

Michael P. O'Donnell, PhD, MBA, MPH
Editor in Chief, American Journal of Health Promotion