The Role of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in Public Health Law

2003 ◽  
Vol 31 (S4) ◽  
pp. 76-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suzi Ruhl ◽  
Mari Stephens ◽  
Paul Locke
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Native Americans ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Emergency Preparedness ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Federal State ◽  
Public Health Action ◽  
The Public ◽  
State And Local ◽  
Health Laws

NGOs can play an important role in the development, implementation, and reform of public health laws. To be effective, NGOs must recognize the critical role law plays in protecting the health of the public and in the public health system’s emergency preparedness. They must be ready to work with federal, state, and local leaders to advance the goals that public health laws were enacted to achieve. NGOs also have technical expertise, which they can utilize to help translate highly complex scientific concepts into public health action steps that regulators, legislators, and members of the public can readily understand.Those who are most often affected by pollution tend to be low income people, the working class, Native Americans, and people of color. Those most affected by pollution issues, however, usually have the least input in the creation of policy.

The Public Health Workforce and Willingness to Respond to Emergencies: A 50-State Analysis of Potentially Influential Laws

2014 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 64-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lainie Rutkow ◽  
Jon S. Vernick ◽  
Maxim Gakh ◽  
Jennifer Siegel ◽  
Carol B. Thompson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Emergency Preparedness ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Population Level ◽  
The United States ◽  
Public Health Emergency ◽  
Public Health Workforce ◽  
Federal State ◽  
State And Local ◽  
The Government

Law plays a critical role in all stages of a public health emergency, including planning, response, and recovery. Public health emergencies introduce health concerns at the population level through, for example, the emergence of a novel infectious disease. In the United States, at the federal, state, and local levels, laws provide an infrastructure for public health emergency preparedness and response efforts: they grant the government the ability to officially declare an emergency, authorize responders to act, and facilitate interjurisdictional coordination. Law is perhaps most visible during an emergency when the president or a state's governor issues a disaster declaration establishing the temporal and geographic parameters for the response and making financial and other resources available. This legal authority has increasingly been used during the last decade.

After September 11: Rethinking Public Health Federalism

2002 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 201-211 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wendy E. Parmet
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Public Health System ◽  
The United States ◽  
Federal State ◽  
The Public ◽  
Control And Prevention ◽  
Local Officials ◽  
State And Local ◽  
Effective Public Health ◽  
Suspicious Case

In the fall of 2001, the need for a vigorous and effective public health system became more apparent than it had been for many decades. With the advent of the first widescale bioterrorist attack on the United States, the government's obligation to respond and take steps to protect the public health became self-evident.Also obvious was the need for of an effective partnership between federal, state, and local officials. Local officials are almost always on the front lines of the struggle against bioterrorism. They are the first to recognize a suspicious case and to provide testing and treatment for the affected population. At the same time, state officials are needed to support and coordinate local efforts, providing an expertise that may be lacking in many communities, especially smaller ones.But few would doubt that the federal government has a key role to play. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is expected to lead the epidemiological investigation and provide expertise on how to cope with diseases that remain unfamiliar to most physicians.

scholarly journals To shop or shelter? Issue framing effects and social-distancing preferences in the COVID-19 pandemic

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Aaron Deslatte
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Opposite Effect ◽  
Federal State ◽  
Issue Framing ◽  
Survey Experiment ◽  
Alternative Communication ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Health Information ◽  
State And Local ◽  
Issue Frames

As a result of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes coronavirus disease (COVID-19), U.S. federal, state, and local governmental officials have struggled to coordinate consistent, coherent messaging for citizens to social-distance. The pandemic presents an important context for examining alternative communication frames employed by governments. This study presents results from an artefactual survey experiment in which public-health information regarding COVID-19 was transmitted to a panel of U.S. adult respondents via alternative issue frames and messengers. The findings highlight the importance of delivering consistent messages to the public. Public-health frames positively influence citizen preferences for avoiding unnecessary travel. Conversely, economic frames appear to have the opposite effect, increasing the preference to make unnecessary trips to shop. However, federal messengers appear to strengthen the framing effect relative to expert messengers.

Better Parks Through Law and Policy: A Legal Analysis of Authorities Governing Public Parks and Open Spaces

2011 ◽  
Vol 8 (s1) ◽  
pp. S109-S115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Henderson ◽  
Christine R. Fry
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Overweight And Obesity ◽  
Federal State ◽  
Public Parks ◽  
Legal Analysis ◽  
Obesity Prevalence ◽  
State Laws ◽  
School Communities ◽  
State And Local

Background:Improving parks in low income and minority neighborhoods may be a key way to increase physical activity and decrease overweight and obesity prevalence among children at the greatest risk. To advocate effectively for improved recreation infrastructure, public health advocates must understand the legal and policy landscape in which public recreation decisions are made.Methods:In this descriptive legal analysis, we reviewed federal, state, and local laws to determine the authority of each level of government over parks. We then examined current practices and state laws regarding park administration in urban California and rural Texas.Results:We identified several themes through the analysis: (1) multiple levels of governments are often involved in parks offerings in a municipality, (2) state laws governing parks vary, (3) local authority may vary substantially within a state, and (4) state law may offer greater authority than local jurisdictions use.Conclusions:Public health advocates who want to improve parks need to (1) think strategically about which levels of government to engage; (2) identify parks law and funding from all levels of government, including those not typically associated with local parks; and (3) partner with advocates with similar interests, including those from active living and school communities.

Emergency Legal Preparedness Among Select US Local Governments

2009 ◽  
Vol 3 (S2) ◽  
pp. S176-S184 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evan D. Anderson ◽  
James G. Hodge
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Emergency Preparedness ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
H1n1 Influenza ◽  
Federal State ◽  
Home Rule ◽  
Influenza Outbreak ◽  
Key Issues ◽  
State And Local ◽  
The Impact

ABSTRACTLegal preparedness is an essential component of effective public health emergency response, evinced recently by the numerous emergency declarations issued at the federal, state, and local levels to address the 2009 H1N1 influenza outbreak. Although the impact of these emergency laws at the federal and state levels has been studied extensively, the scope and role of local emergency laws have not been similarly assessed. In this article, we examine key issues of emergency laws among select US localities in the context of the recent H1N1 outbreak and their application to volunteer health professionals, who are often needed to meet patient surge capacity during local emergencies.Localities represent the front line of emergency preparedness and must address an array of legal challenges before and during declared emergencies. Local legal preparedness differs based on overarching restrictions such as the degree of home rule provided to localities under state law. Some localities take innovative legal approaches to address emergency preparedness. Although beneficial in many respects, these variations add additional complexity to legal preparedness and intensify the need for predisaster planning, exercises, and coordination. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2009;3(Suppl 2):S176–S184)

Toolkit for Epidemiologic Response to an Acute Chemical Release

2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 631-632 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary Anne Duncan ◽  
Maureen F. Orr
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Technical Assistance ◽  
Local Health ◽  
Toxic Substances ◽  
Public Health Action ◽  
Public Health Agencies ◽  
Chemical Release ◽  
State And Local ◽  
The Many

AbstractWhen a large chemical incident occurs and people are injured, public health agencies need to be able to provide guidance and respond to questions from the public, the media, and public officials. Because of this urgent need for information to support appropriate public health action, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) of the US Department of Health and Human Services has developed the Assessment of Chemical Exposures (ACE) Toolkit. The ACE Toolkit, available on the ATSDR website, offers materials including surveys, consent forms, databases, and training materials that state and local health personnel can use to rapidly conduct an epidemiologic investigation after a large-scale acute chemical release. All materials are readily adaptable to the many different chemical incident scenarios that may occur and the data needs of the responding agency. An expert ACE team is available to provide technical assistance on site or remotely. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2016;10:631–632)

Immigrant Communities and COVID-19: Strengthening the Public Health Response

2021 ◽  
Vol 111 (S3) ◽  
pp. S224-S231
Author(s):  
Lan N. Đoàn ◽  
Stella K. Chong ◽  
Supriya Misra ◽  
Simona C. Kwon ◽  
Stella S. Yi
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Health Care Providers ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Immigrant Communities ◽  
Care Providers ◽  
Public Health Response ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Health Infrastructure ◽  
Health Infrastructure

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the many broken fragments of US health care and social service systems, reinforcing extant health and socioeconomic inequities faced by structurally marginalized immigrant communities. Throughout the pandemic, even during the most critical period of rising cases in different epicenters, immigrants continued to work in high-risk-exposure environments while simultaneously having less access to health care and economic relief and facing discrimination. We describe systemic factors that have adversely affected low-income immigrants, including limiting their work opportunities to essential jobs, living in substandard housing conditions that do not allow for social distancing or space to safely isolate from others in the household, and policies that discourage access to public resources that are available to them or that make resources completely inaccessible. We demonstrate that the current public health infrastructure has not improved health care access or linkages to necessary services, treatments, or culturally competent health care providers, and we provide suggestions for how the Public Health 3.0 framework could advance this. We recommend the following strategies to improve the Public Health 3.0 public health infrastructure and mitigate widening disparities: (1) address the social determinants of health, (2) broaden engagement with stakeholders across multiple sectors, and (3) develop appropriate tools and technologies. (Am J Public Health. 2021;111(S3):S224–S231. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2021.306433 )

An Emergency Preparedness Response to Opioid-Prescribing Enforcement Actions in Maryland, 2018-2019

2021 ◽  
Vol 136 (1_suppl) ◽  
pp. 9S-17S
Author(s):  
Jessica C. Acharya ◽  
B. Casey Lyons ◽  
Vijay Murthy ◽  
Jennifer Stanley ◽  
Carly Babcock ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Preparedness ◽  
Data Access ◽  
Opioid Use Disorder ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Mitigation Strategies ◽  
Federal State ◽  
Opioid Use ◽  
Time Data ◽  
Enforcement Action ◽  
State And Local

Federal and state enforcement authorities have increasingly intervened on the criminal overprescribing of opioids. However, little is known about the health effects these enforcement actions have on patients experiencing disrupted access to prescription opioids or medication-assisted treatment/medication for opioid use disorder. Simultaneously, opioid death rates have increased. In response, the Maryland Department of Health (MDH) has worked to coordinate mitigation strategies with enforcement partners (defined as any federal, state, or local enforcement authority or other governmental investigative authority). One strategy is a standardized protocol to implement emergency response functions, including rapidly identifying health hazards with real-time data access, deploying resources locally, and providing credible messages to partners and the public. From January 2018 through October 2019, MDH used the protocol in response to 12 enforcement actions targeting 34 medical professionals. A total of 9624 patients received Schedule II-V controlled substance prescriptions from affected prescribers under investigation in the 6 months before the respective enforcement action; 9270 (96%) patients were residents of Maryland. Preliminary data indicate fatal overdose events and potential loss of follow-up care among the patient population experiencing disrupted health care as a result of an enforcement action. The success of the strategy hinged on endorsement by leadership; the establishment of federal, state, and local roles and responsibilities; and data sharing. MDH’s approach, data sources, and lessons learned may support health departments across the country that are interested in conducting similar activities on the front lines of the opioid crisis.

Linking Federal Surveys with Administrative Data to Improve Research on Families

2016 ◽  
Vol 669 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy O’Hara ◽  
Rachel M. Shattuck ◽  
Robert M. Goerge
Keyword(s):  
Survey Data ◽  
Administrative Data ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Family Relationships ◽  
Census Data ◽  
Federal State ◽  
Great Promise ◽  
Science Literature ◽  
Administrative Records ◽  
State And Local

Linkage of federal, state, and local administrative records to survey data holds great promise for research on families, in particular research on low-income families. Researchers can use administrative records in conjunction with survey data to better measure family relationships and to capture the experiences of individuals and family members across multiple points in time and social and economic domains. Administrative data can be used to evaluate program participation in government social welfare programs, as well as to evaluate the accuracy of reporting on receipt of such benefits. Administrative records can also be used to enhance collection and accuracy of survey and census data and to improve coverage of hard-to-reach populations. This article discusses potential uses of linked administrative and survey data, gives an overview of the linking methodology and infrastructure (including limitations), and reviews social science literature that has used this method to date.

scholarly journals Public Health Surveillance: Electronic Reporting as a Point of Reference

2019 ◽  
Vol 47 (S2) ◽  
pp. 19-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Black ◽  
Rachel Hulkower ◽  
Walter Suarez ◽  
Shreya Patel ◽  
Brandon Elliott
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Information ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Public Health Surveillance ◽  
Health Surveillance ◽  
Federal State ◽  
Electronic Reporting ◽  
Reporting Systems ◽  
State And Local ◽  
Point Of Reference

Federal, state, and local laws shape the use of health information for public health purposes, such as the mandated collection of data through electronic disease reporting systems. Health professionals can leverage these data to better anticipate and plan for the needs of communities, which is seen in the use of electronic case reporting.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document