Hello everyone,

Welcome again to the CHW Section APHA Policy Corner. The purpose of this column is to bring APHA policy and advocacy-related information and news to CHW Section members and the broader CHW community. We also share information about CHW Section member leadership appointments, elections related to policy/advocacy and upcoming APHA policy and advocacy-related activities.

Durrell Fox’s campaign for Executive Board - I am a candidate for APHA Executive Board because I believe in the power and importance of public health science, practice and most importantly the ability to translate research and theory into practice effectively and efficiently. During my 21 years as a community health worker,  I’ve learned about the critical importance of both cultural diversity and diversity of disciplines on clinical and public health teams. As an Executive Board member I will focus on: 1) multicultural and multidisciplinary approaches to eliminating health disparities; 2) advocacy and policy development to “re-build”, strengthen and sustain a robust public health infrastructure; 3) enhanced APHA membership opportunities with outreach to the broader public health workforce; 4) community engagement initiatives in cities where we host our Annual Meeting; and 5) strategic action to progress the objectives of the recently re-crafted APHA strategic map. Elections for APHA President Elect and Executive Board will take place during the Governing Council session on Tuesday, Nov. 1.

Governing Council -The CHW Section has two current APHA Governing Councilors, Durrell Fox and Carl Rush, who both are full voting members, and Section Chair Lisa Renee Holderby-Fox holds an ex-officio seat. Our role on the Governing Council is to: 1) establish policies for the Association and for the guidance of the Executive Board and the officers;  2) receive and act upon reports or recommendations from any organization constituent, the Science Board, the Action Board, the Education Board, the Standing Committees and the Executive Board; 3) elect the Executive Board and the officers of the Association; and 4) oversee governance to establish, combine or discontinue sections or units of the Association. We have a mid-year call and three meeting sessions during the Annual Meeting to conduct our business.

Action Board – The CHW Section has one representative on the APHA Action Board and currently that is Durrell Fox, who last year served as chair of the Action Board. The Action Board helps coordinate the Association’s grassroots and grasstops advocacy activities and improves participation in advocacy initiatives among the Association’s Sections, SPIGs, Caucuses, state Affiliates and other components. We have monthly meetings, do a lot of work within our active subcommittees and host advocacy sessions during the Annual Meeting. This year we put a lot of effort into advocacy action during the Congressional August break, through the coordinated APHA campaign called, Public Health Action, or PHACT.

APHA Action Alerts - We are asking all CHW Section members to respond to APHA Action Alerts by contacting your Congressional Representatives and to participate in APHA legislative advocacy activities and monthly calls. APHA has a new system in place that has made it easier than ever for APHA members to quickly contact their members of congress.  Many of these emails will come from the legislativenews@apha.org email address. We need our voices heard and our views represented in these discussions and activities. To learn more visit www.apha.org/advocacy/activities/.

Below are some advocacy/policy activities happening during the Annual Meeting; we need continued and enhanced CHW Section membership involvement in our CHW sessions and:

A)   We need all CHWs, allies and partners to attend the hearings on APHA Proposed Policies on Sunday, Oct. 30, 3:30-6 p.m. If you are an active APHA member you can review 2011 proposed policies @ www.apha.org/advocacy/policy/. You can also visit the online program for the location for hearings on each proposed policy: apha.confex.com/apha/139am/webprogram/start.html. After hearings the GC will vote on proposed policies during the Tuesday, Nov. 1 session. The hearings give us an opportunity to provide input and guidance on policies that are related to impact the CHW scope of practice and communities we serve.

B)   On Sunday, Oct. 30, APHA will host “Advocacy Training for Leaders” (8-11:30 a.m. in Wash. Conv. Center Rm 150B) and a “Training for Hill Visits” (2-3:30 p.m. in Wash. Conv. Center Rm 140A)

C)   On Monday, Oct. 31 there are sessions entitled “The Who, What and How of Advocacy” (12:30-2 p.m.) and “Mobilizing a Public Health Campaign” (2:30-4 p.m.) both in Wash. Conv. Center Rm 156.