Better Health Faster

Abstract

It is easy to identify health laws that have helped Americans live longer, healthier lives. Indeed, most of the greatest public health accomplishments of the last century depended on legal action. The coordination of research, policy development, public education, and advocacy in the tobacco control movement shows that success is attainable even in the face of powerful industry opposition. 1 The development of automobile safety laws during the past 30 years shows how well-conducted, properly diffused research can instigate policy cascades and guide policy refinement over time. 2 These examples of ''interventional health law'' 3-using law as a tool of intervention-also illustrate that developing, enacting, evaluating, and spreading health laws is not just the work of lawyers. In these and many examples like them, health advocates, researchers, public health practitioners, and lawyers work in strategic partnership to improve population health through law and policy. Consistent with the literature on the art and science of evidence translation, 4,5 these efforts were built on effective practices, such as cultivating partnerships among diverse stakeholders. These partnerships promote (1) research that is targeted at the most strategically relevant questions; (2) the development of model laws based on the best available science; (3) sophisticated community education and advocacy campaigns to win, defend, and enforce effective policies; and (4) enforcement to ensure that improved public health outcomes are achieved and sustained. 6-8 The starting point for this commentary is that public health law is not just the work of lawyers but must also be owned by the range of public health disciplines as a transdisciplinary activity. 9 Knowing how to translate what we have learned from research and experience into effective public health law interventions is not the problem. The problem is that the public health system, writ large, does not deploy wellrecognized best practices consistently or strategically across topics. Legal interventions affecting millions of Americans are often not scaled or evaluated for years, if at all. Innovations that show promise in research or practice do not spread, or they spread too slowly. 10,11 The pace can be even slower when innovations are faced with organized ideological or industry opposition. 12 Success requires investment in the same legal infrastructure that was created for tobacco control and alcohol policy and is newly underway in obesity prevention. ''Legal infrastructure'' refers to the people, methods, and tools needed to move a policy from conception to widespread implementation. The first step in establishing this infrastructure is defining its elements. After publication of the 1988 Institute of Medicine (IOM) report The Future of Public Health, 13 public health as a field embarked on an effort to define, measure, and improve the public health system. 14,15 Yet, despite its key role, law largely escaped that systematic treatment. Two of the 10 essential public health services exp...

Law and Policy as Tools in Healthy People 2030

“… Policy and law as tools to promote population health : There are a number of models that discuss the role of law and policy to improve health. 37 One such framework explores the use of policies and laws to promote public health and safety. 38 Five featured legal and policy tools are as follows: ( a ) direct regulation (penalties for risky behavior); ( b ) deregulation (dismantling legal barriers to desired health behaviors); ( c ) economic incentives and/or use of subsidies; ( d ) economic disincentives (ie, taxation and spending); and ( e ) redress through the court system (civil litigation).…”

“…Relevant frameworks and models can guide individuals and entities in working toward the Healthy People 2030 goal to “engage leadership, key constituents, and the public across multiple sectors to take action and design policies that improve the health and well-being of all.” Three examples are as follows: Health and well-being in all policies and laws (HIAP) : An HIAP approach relies on collaboration36 and reflects the understanding that many pressing population health challenges, such as inequities, chronic disease, and the need for insurance reform, are complex, multidimensional, interconnected, and linked to social, economic, and physical environments. Policy and law as tools to promote population health : There are a number of models that discuss the role of law and policy to improve health 37. One such framework explores the use of policies and laws to promote public health and safety 38.…”

“…Policy and law as tools to promote population health : There are a number of models that discuss the role of law and policy to improve health 37. One such framework explores the use of policies and laws to promote public health and safety 38.…”

EDITORS’ INTRODUCTION: Transgender Health Equity and the Law

“…Public health law scholars study law as an important additional tool to impact public health issues. 11 Transgender health equity, like other public health issues, can be positively or negatively impacted by state and federal laws. A growing evidence base supports the intuitive proposition that laws which support inclusion and fight discrimination have a positive impact on health outcomes for transgender people.…”