Transforming Public Health for a Resilient Future
The Open Forum: Next Generation conference, hosted by the National Network of Public Health Institutes, is working to transform public health by equipping and empowering our workforce to advance health equity. Join us in Indianapolis on September 27-29 for rich discussions on emerging practices and innovations related to public health infrastructure, the public health workforce, and complex public health challenges.
We look forward to connecting with you! Read on for a list of presentations by ChangeLab Solutions staff.
A Path Forward: Leveraging Law & Policy Tools to Undo Historic Harms & Advance Health Equity
Thursday, 9/28, 11:00am–12:15pm ET
Cesar De La Vega, senior policy analyst
Shannon Rempe, attorney
This workshop will discuss the legal history of structural racism at a high level, highlighting its role in creating health inequities and its impacts on past, present, and future public health practice. The speakers will envision a path forward, highlighting learnings and resources to increase the capacity of the public health workforce to use the tools of law and policy in their day-to-day work to center racial justice and advance health equity. The workshop will be a mix of content sharing from the presenters and breakout discussions focused on engaging with tools, resources, and skill-building activities to move from conversation to action.
How the Public Health Workforce Can Use Community Engagement to Build Health Equity
Thursday, 9/28, 11:45am–12:15pm ET
Tina Ansong, senior planner
Becca Rieckhoff, attorney
This workshop will highlight findings from a multi-year project from ChangeLab Solutions and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that seeks to strengthen the public health workforce and enable more equity-centered work. This project aims to build state, tribal, local, and territorial health departments’ readiness and capacity to use community engagement to address the social determinants of health and advance health equity. In this session, we’ll spotlight research from this collaboration and introduce resources we're developing that respond to the challenges and needs of the field, including a community engagement guide tailored to state health departments.
Funding State & Local Public Health Innovation to Advance Health Equity
Thursday, 9/28, 2:45–4:00pm ET
Melissa Marichal Zayas, attorney
Jessica Nguyen, senior planner
Despite growing momentum for public health practitioners to move their efforts upstream to address fundamental drivers of health and health inequity, many health departments still face barriers related to funding and financing that can make sustaining such efforts difficult. To address this challenge, this workshop will provide information on the following resources:
- Tools and tips on how to find money “in the system” to support public health and community health improvement efforts that advance health equity
- A framework to assess and guide sustainable funding efforts
- Concrete examples and resources related to funding and financing innovations that can be implemented in other communities or jurisdictions
- Peer learning opportunities to discuss shared challenges and opportunities
9/11/2023; updated 9/12/2023