Advocacy



SOPHE's 2011 Advocacy Priorities

  • Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
    • Retain Prevention and Public Health
    • Seek opportunities for 3rd party reimbursement for professionally trained health educators
  • Appropriations for CDC's National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion
    • Overall Division
    • Healthy Communities Program
    • Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health Program
    • Division of Adolescent & School Health
  • Reauthorization fo the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)
    • Support Udall (D-NM) amendment to ESEA to include health and physical education as core subjects
  • Promote the Health Education Profession as a critical component to addressing the health crisis in our society
  • Health literacy
  • Health equity across all populations
  • Tobacco prevention and control
  • Environmental health/emergency preparedness

SOPHE has developed an Advocacy Toolkit with useful resources as well as SOPHE’s position on various issues.  To access the Advocacy Toolkit: CLICK HERE

Advocating for public policies conducive to health is part of SOPHE’s mission as a health education organization.  SOPHE has a responsibility to educate decision-makers on national and state legislative issues related to the health of society.  Each year SOPHE identifies priority issues on which they will focus their education efforts through sustained communication channels with members and chapters, and by developing and maintaining collaborative partnerships with public and private national organizations.  SOPHE also encourages chapters in their own implementation of national, state and local health education public policy activities.

SOPHE has an active Advocacy Committee, with chapter representation, and interested SOPHE members. Email communication facilitates rapid communication and action on national legislative issues of interest to SOPHE members. SOPHE also adopts resolutions that provide an organizational foundation for action on selected issues. Relocation of the national office to Washington, DC in January 1996 has increased SOPHE participation and visibility.

Annual Health Education Advocacy Summit

As a member of the Coalition of National Health Education Organizations (CNHEO), SOPHE has taken an active role in organizing and staffing the Annual Health Education Advocacy Summit.  The Summit is comprised one to two days of meetings during which participants receive either basic or advanced-level advocacy training as well as briefings on specific legislative issues by experienced professionals.  The Summit concludes on a third day where participants utilize the skills they have acquired by conducting Congressional visits either individually or in state delegations with Federal officials in Washington, DC.  For more information and to find out which legislative issues the Summit will focus on, visit: www.healtheducationadvocate.org