National Public Health Week: Translating aspirations into actions

April 1-7, 2024

By Billy Oglesby, PhD, MBA, FACHE

There are few fields with broader scope, greater complexity and higher impact than public health – the science of protecting and improving the health of people and their communities. Public health is concerned with safeguarding the health of entire populations – from small neighborhoods to entire countries and regions of the world. In practical terms, this requires promoting healthy behaviors and lifestyles; researching disease and injury prevention; and detecting, preventing and responding to outbreaks of infectious diseases. ??

For the past 25 years, the American Public Health Association (APHA) has rolled out National Public Health Week (NPHW) during the first full week of April. Each year, APHA develops a national campaign and related materials to educate the public, policymakers and healthcare practitioners around specific themes.? The goal is to raise awareness about public health and prevention during and well after the week-long event.?

With an overarching theme of Protecting, Connecting and Thriving: We Are All Public Health, the 2024 NPHW places emphasis on the pivotal role of collaboration, cooperation and partnerships in improving public health.?The programming touches on many aspects of public health and provides a structure for engaging in partnerships and fostering local and national connections.?

Daily themes include Civic Engagement, Healthy Neighborhoods, Climate Change, New Tools and Innovations, Reproductive and Sexual Health, Emergency Preparedness, and Future of Public Health.?

For each daily theme, there is evidence-based background information, and actionable steps that can be taken by individuals, neighborhoods/communities, cities/states, and the nation.? For instance, the NPHW kick-off theme for this major election year is Civic Engagement. What could be more civically engaging than exercising one’s right to influence decisions about their communities and country?? Citing analyses - such as one demonstrating better health outcomes in states where more individuals are active voters, and another showing that barriers to voting worsen existing health disparities (e.g., infant mortality) - NPHW encourages voting to support funding for healthy neighborhood projects (like parks and sidewalks), accessible health services (like preventive care and reproductive health clinics), and national preparedness (for potential disasters and pandemics).??

There are suggested actions for improving civic engagement at every population level, including what every person can do to promote civic engagement.? NPHW’s list includes:?

• Vote and encourage friends and neighbors to vote; participate in town halls and volunteer activities that promote voting.?
• Encourage employers and organizations to be voter-friendly – e.g., allowing time off to vote.

At the national level, NPHW endorses actions such as adding voting metrics to Healthy People 2030, making voter registration easier (e.g., by allowing Medicaid participants to be automatically registered to vote); and passing the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.?

Another popular and engaging feature of NPHW is APHA’s Keep It Moving Challenge with a variety of tools to help communities prevent chronic conditions and promote healthy aging in their specific populations; e.g., Move Your Way tools and resources for adults, seniors, parents, pre- and post-pregnant women.?

Jefferson College of Population Health is proud to contribute to the education and development of future leaders in public health through our CEPH accredited Master of Public Health (MPH) program. Our flexible, tailored and high-touch programs are designed to support students who want to become public health practitioners and those who want to move into healthcare, law, government or policy.?

Coming soon - our online MPH program!

Billy Oglesby, PhD, MBA, FACHE is the Humana Dean of Jefferson College of Population Health.