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What is Healthy States?
What is the purpose of the initiative?
What is public health? How is it different from health care?
Why should state officials play a role in public health programs to address wellness?
What are some important public health issues?
What resources can I find on these issues?
How can I find out about state legislation on public health issues?
How can I find out about events hosted by the Healthy States Initiative and its partners?
How can I find a state official to talk to about a public health issue?
How can I find an expert to talk to on a public health issue?
How can I contact Healthy States?
The Healthy States Initiative is a partnership of The Council of State Governments (CSG), the National Black Caucus of State Legislators (NBCSL) and the National Hispanic Caucus of State Legislators (NHCSL). In addition, the Association of State and Territorial Health Officers (ASTHO) and the American Public Health Association (APHA) are advisers to the project. Funding for CSG's Healthy States Initiative is provided by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), under cooperative agreement U38/CCU424348.
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The Council of State Governments' (CSG) Healthy States Initiative is designed to help state legislators and officials make informed decisions on public health issues. The enterprise brings together state legislators, officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, state health department officials, and public health experts to share information and identify innovative solutions.
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In public health, the goal is to prevent diseases or injury in a whole population--a city, state or country, for example. That's different from the goal of health care, which is to treat illness in individuals. Public health has long been involved in issues like food safety, environmental conditions, and immunizations but has more recently expanded into chronic disease prevention. An example may make the distinction sharper: a public health approach to cancer could involve a statewide public awareness campaign about the risk factors for cancer such as smoking or sun exposure, while a health care approach would focus on treating individuals with cancer or educating individuals on their risks for cancer.
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State government has many responsibilities within the public health arena. They are charged with the authority and responsibility for protecting the public's health. State government serves as both employer providing health benefits, and insurer of health services under Medicaid. Many states are promoting wellness and seeking to prevent disease because of the impact they can have on productivity, available workforce, health care costs and state budgets.
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We invite you to click on Public Health Issues to get a list of the 21 broad topics that the Healthy States Initiative is focused on. Each issue page contains resources and links to information, selected with state policymakers in mind. But here are some examples of the kinds of issues we're talking about:
- Ensuring that children and at-risk adults are immunized against deadly diseases
- Preventing chronic conditions such as cancer, heart disease and asthma
- Reducing disease and disability that result from environmental factors
- Applying research on how HIV/AIDS infections and other sexually transmitted diseases can be prevented
- Promoting the health and well-being of people with disabilities
- Working with schools to prevent risky behavior among children, adolescents and young adults
- Building resources to detect and respond to public health threats and emergencies
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Through the Healthy States Web site, you can access many different resources on public health issues including:
- Health Policy Highlights and Healthy States e-weekly -- This free weekly electronic newsletter brings the latest public health news, resources, reports and upcoming events straight to your inbox.
- Healthy States Quarterly -- CSG's free quarterly newsletter covers public health legislative and policy trends, innovative best practices from the executive and legislative branches, current research, and information on Healthy States activities.
- Forums and Web Casts –- The Healthy States Initiative often brings together public health experts, legislators and legislative staff to discuss priority public health issues. You can find out about upcoming events here and register to attend or view our archives of past forums.
- Healthy States Publications -- Periodic publications assist state legislators interested in public health topics such as cancer and chronic disease prevention, HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted disease prevention, vaccines, health disparities and school health.
- Other public health reports -– On our Web site you can also link to other reports produced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other public health agencies.
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On our Web site you can now access detailed reports on public health legislation introduced in 2005 and 2006. The reports provide summaries of the bills and address the status of each. We also frequently highlight innovative state approaches in many of our Healthy States publications.
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As part of the Healthy States Initiative, CSG and its partners host Web Casts and meetings that examine public health issues affecting state government and offer examples of promising practices. On the Events and Conferences part of our Web site, you can learn about, and sign up for, upcoming events like CSG's annual, spring and regional meetings, and other relevant events.
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Send us an e-mail and let us know your area of concern and we'll put you in touch with state officials who have tackled similar public health issues in their own states. You can tap them for information on the legal, political, and public relations issues they faced in seeing their legislation through the process. Or, if you'd like to speak to a CSG staff person about finding a legislator or other state official, call CSG's Health Policy Group at (859)244-8000.
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The Health Policy Group can also help you find health researchers and policy analysts so that your analysis can be backed up by the latest data and recommended courses of action. We'll help you connect to experts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other agencies concerned with public health issues.
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We'd love to have your feedback and input on:
- specific questions you have about public health
- innovative legislation you have sponsored
- public health issues you want to learn more about
- ways CSG can improve the resources provided by the Healthy States Initiative
To share your thoughts on these or other matters, click on Comments and Questions.
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