1) What is the “Policy Review and Archiving Process”?
In 2003, the Governing Council decided to undertake an annual review of existing APHA policy statements to improve the currency of APHA policies available to Government Affairs and Communications staff. The focus of the Policy Review and Archiving Process is to identify policies for which the science is outdated, has been superseded or addressed by a more recent policy, or for which the issue that the policy was originally created was resolved or addressed. The process is also critical to identify policy gaps or policies that should be updated or combined into new position statements for consideration by the Governing Council.
2) Why is the “Policy Review and Archiving Process” important?
APHA staff use the APHA policy database daily in working with policymakers to shape new legislation or regulations, formulate official APHA responses to stakeholders, respond to media inquiries, decide whether to sign-on to letters with other coalitions, and other association activities. Additionally, APHA members and affiliates may look to the APHA policy portfolio to guide or strengthen their positions at the state and local levels. An official association response to an issue often must be made within a matter of hours or days. Therefore, it is critical that APHA has available the most up-to-date, easily accessible cadre of policies on a wide range of public health issues. The policy review and archiving process provides a systematic, member-engaged approach to keeping the APHA policy database as up-to-date as possible.
3) How are the topic areas for the “Policy Review and Archiving Process” selected?
Each year, APHA’s Action Board, which has representatives from all Sections and designates from Special Interest Groups, Caucuses, and Affiliates, develops a list of potential subject areas for policy archiving review. The subject areas are based on anticipated “hot topics” in Congress, scientific or other policy advancements related to public health, and other factors. Typically, only 3-4 topic areas are selected each year to keep the total number of policies being reviewed manageable. The topic areas are posted on the APHA website for public comment as well as sent to the Joint Policy Committee (JPC), which has overall responsibility for the archiving process. All APHA units also may submit topics that they believe are in need of review early in the calendar year. The Policy Development Schedule found on the APHA website lists important dates for input.
4) What happens once the policy areas for archiving review are selected?
Once the 3-4 policy areas for archiving review are finalized by the Action Board and APHA staff, the entire list of APHA policies (excluding those already archived) is searched by keywords and other parameters. Policies that are found to be of primary relevance are then grouped according to the 3-4 subject areas and listed by policy number and title. Because this process is meant to spotlight all relevant APHA position statements in a specific topic area (e.g. rural health, food and nutrition, mental health), policies included in the list may range from the 1940’s to those adopted at the most recent APHA annual meeting. The final list of proposed policies for archiving review is posted on the APHA website, and members are notified through APHA communiqué.
5) How does my Section/Caucus/SPIG participate in the policy review process?
All APHA units are encouraged to participate in the policy review process. The Policy Development Schedule found on the APHA website lists important dates for input, as well as the criteria by which to evaluate each proposed policy for archiving review. Comments on the proposed policies for archiving should be sent to policy@apha.org.
6) If a policy is listed on the “Proposed Policy Review and Archiving List”, is it automatically recommended for archiving?
No. Simply because a policy is identified on the list does not mean it will be recommended for archiving. This process is meant to spotlight all relevant APHA position statements in a specific topic area (e.g. rural health, food and nutrition), and therefore policies included in the list may range from the 1940’s to those adopted at the most recent APHA annual meeting. A policy that was recently adopted by APHA may still be included in the list if it is relevant to the overall topic area, so as to provide the reviewer a comprehensive assessment of all germane APHA policies.
7) What happens after APHA Units and members comment on the proposed policy archiving list?
Comments on each of the policies proposed for archiving are collected and sent to the Joint Policy Committee (JPC), which is comprised of representatives from the APHA Science, Education, and Action Boards. The JPC reviews the comments, consulting with other experts in the topic area (if needed), and develops a preliminary list of policies that it recommends should be archived. The JPC’s report is then sent to the Governing Council, which makes the final decision on policies to be archived at the Annual Meeting. The entire report of all policies that have been reviewed for the year, including comments on those policies that were not recommended for archiving but may need further action (e.g. combining, updating, etc.) is then sent to the Chairs of all APHA Units to encourage them to take follow-up action by developing new policies.
8) What happens when a policy is archived?
Archived policies remain a part of APHA's historical record. The policy receives a designation noting it has been archived and is no longer a part of APHA's active policy database. If a policy gap results from archiving of dated policies, the appropriate APHA unit (Section, SPIG, Affiliate etc.) is encouraged to fill the gap by submitting new policy on the issue-gap created the following year.
9) What happens if 2 or more policies are recommended to be combined?
If in the process of reviewing existing policies an APHA unit (Section, SPIG, Affiliate etc.) recommends that 2 or more policies be combined, the existing policies are not archived until the new, combined policy is adopted by the Governing Council. If two separate but related new policy proposals are introduced into the policy process, the JPC may request that the authors work cooperatively together in the development of a single, succinct, jointly developed proposal.
10) When and how may I review and comment proposed policies to be archived?
The preliminary consent calendar listing the policies proposed to be archived is posted on the APHA website and in an e-mail alert sent to all APHA members. All APHA units are encouraged to review the list. The Policy Development Schedule found on the APHA website lists important dates for input. Comments on the proposed policies for archiving should be sent to policy@apha.org.