ABSTRACT
Each decade since 1979, the Healthy People initiative establishes the national prevention agenda and provides the foundation for disease prevention and health promotion policies and programs. Law and policy have been included in Healthy People objectives from the start, but not integrated into the overall initiative as well as possible to potentially leverage change to meet Healthy People targets and goals. This article provides background on the Healthy People initiative and its use among various stakeholder groups, describes the work of a project aiming to better integrate law and policy into this initiative, and discusses the development of Healthy People 2030 - the next iteration of health goals for the nation. Lessons from the preliminary stages of developing Healthy People by the HHS Secretary's Advisory Committee (Committee) on National Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Objectives for 2030 and a Federal Interagency Workgroup will be included. Efforts by the Committee focused on the role of law and policy as determinants of health and valuable resources around health equity are also shared. Finally, the article discusses ways that law and policy can potentially be tools to help meet Healthy People targets and to attain national health goals.
Subject(s)
Health Policy , Healthy People Programs/legislation & jurisprudence , Healthy People Programs/organization & administration , Public Health , Advisory Committees , Healthy People Programs/history , Healthy People Programs/trends , History, 20th Century , History, 21st Century , Humans , United States , United States Dept. of Health and Human ServicesABSTRACT
This article discusses (1) the ways in which law functions as a determinant of health, (2) historical collaborations between the health and legal professions, (3) the benefits of creating medical-public health-legal collaborations, and (4) how viewing law through a collaborative, population health lens can lead to health equity.
Subject(s)
Health Equity , Health Personnel , Intersectoral Collaboration , Legal Services , Public Health/legislation & jurisprudence , Humans , Social Determinants of Health , Socioeconomic Factors , United StatesSubject(s)
Delivery of Health Care/organization & administration , Interinstitutional Relations , Public Health/methods , Social Work/organization & administration , Cooperative Behavior , Health Services Accessibility/organization & administration , Health Status , Housing/organization & administration , Humans , Medication Adherence , Mental Health , Poverty/statistics & numerical data , Stress, Psychological/prevention & controlABSTRACT
This article offers a brief history of healthcare civil rights, describes a range of healthcare issues that have a civil rights component, and discusses the need for an expanded civil rights framework to guide the provision of health care. Unequal health care based on race and ethnicity has received renewed attention over the past several years, but healthcare discrimination based on socioeconomic status, disability, age, and gender also deserve careful attention.
