Health Reform Rapid Response: The Conversation on Prevention
When Congress reconvenes in the fall, prevention investments in the federal budget may face an uncertain future. With legislators in their home districts for August recess (through September 7th), now is the time to share your community prevention successes.
Your success stories--big or small--help shape the understanding of how community prevention improves the health and well-being of residents across the country. We’ve made it easy for you to send a letter directly to your legislators using our simple online tool. Be sure to write in your own community prevention success stories so that your letter is tailored to the work happening locally, where you live. Looking for inspiration? Read our sample letter, get tips on messaging and framing, and read our news round-up, below:
The Stories:
- Hernando, Mississippi, Mayor Chip Johnson and Kansas City, Kansas, Mayor Joe Reardon team up to express their support for improving health at the community level in “Health Investment for Cities, Nation Is Smart”: “The bottom line is that policies aimed at better health are a smart investment, regardless of where our counties rank... As mayors, we can’t think of a better investment for a productive and vibrant community in which families and businesses can thrive.”
- Prevention Institute’s Larry Cohen discusses the health care ruling in The Nation’s Health: “We’re proud to have played a significant role in achieving this momentous change,” Larry Cohen, MSW, executive director of Prevention Institute, told The Nation’s Health. “Public health leaders work in and with the community, so we effectively engaged diverse voices collaborating for health reform. We brought the critical notion that good health requires quality prevention changes in the community environment, as well as improved medical care for all, and again and again stood up for both.”
- Gary Zaborac of the Clay County Public Health Center in Missouri explains the value of public health and prevention efforts in an op-ed entitled "Public Health Matters": “Public health focuses on the entire community while people are still healthy — before diseases spread and costly health care is required... It’s all about prevention.”
- Gary Goldbaum, MD, MPH, Terry Clark and David Brooks, MHA, argue that “Funding Prevention Pays Off”: “We also need to put in place effective public health policies and programs that truly promote health during the 99 percent of the time when we are working, studying, eating, playing, or sleeping -- that is, all the time when we are not seeing our health-care providers. Great examples of effective public health measures are the ban on smoking in public places and programs to assure that our food and water are safe. Such policies and programs protect all of us every day. They are powerful tools to keep us healthy, above and beyond what the health care system can do.”
What You Can Do:
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