publications

Advancing Health Equity Awards, 2017: Highlighting innovative health equity practice in California public health departments

Along with their community partners, a growing number of health departments are expanding their traditional, service-driven scopes of work and striving to address the root causes of poor health. This series of case studies explores what award-winning departments in Napa, San Mateo, and Monterey counties are doing to eliminate health inequities, examines their successes and challenges, and offers lessons learned.

Get Healthy San Mateo County: How supporting community leadership can help address the root causes of poor health

Through a collaborative led by the San Mateo County Health System’s Health, Policy and Planning Program, residents are working alongside leaders from cities, schools, hospitals, and various county departments to make San Mateo County a healthy place for all community members to live. To understand how the collaborative could serve as a model for other health departments, this case study examines how it is being implemented, highlights challenges, and discusses lessons learned.

How Monterey County is advancing health equity using a Health in All Policies framework

This case study explores how the Monterey County Health Department is collaborating with partners to elevate the role of health in policymaking, better serve disenfranchised communities, and support the ability of all residents to reach their full health potential.

Reframing housing as a health issue in Napa County, California

Together with community residents, elected officials, industry leaders, and community-based organizations, the Public Health Division of Napa County’s Health and Human Services Agency is working to make housing more affordable for everyone in the county and to reframe housing as a health issue — not just for individuals, but for the entire community. This case study explores how they are using a combination of community engagement, policy change, and strategic communication to push forward innovative solutions to the area’s housing crisis.

Trauma, resilience, and #blacklivesmatter: How do racism and trauma intersect in social media conversations?

Despite the greater burden of traumatic experiences carried by communities of color, communicating about childhood trauma and its connections with race and racism can be challenging. In this report, we present the findings from our analysis of how these conversations intersect on social media and consider the implications for communicating about the intersections of trauma, racism, and racial justice.

From farm to every fork: Rewriting the narrative on urban agriculture in Sacramento

Advocates and residents in Sacramento are using a combination of policy change, community power-building, and strategic communication to make it easier for people to take part in urban farming. This case study explores their tactics for strengthening access to healthy food, highlights victories and challenges, and shares lessons learned.

Turning the tide: New directions in health communication

As part of strategic messaging panel for the annual Turning the Tide conference at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, BMSG Director Lori Dorfman discusses the role that environments play in driving health outcomes and how media coverage can influence the policy decisions that create those environments. Studying the news, she explains, can help advocates better anticipate opposition arguments and work with journalists to shape coverage in ways that advance health solutions. Dorfman also highlights basic concepts in framing, addresses ways that the backdrop of individualism in the United States creates obstacles to effective health communication, and gives examples of successful public health campaigns.

Video: Taxes make health happen

Reimagining public space to benefit health and foster community: A case study of Salinas’ annual Ciclovía

Each year, public health advocates and youth organizers in Salinas, California, close traffic to a mile-and-a-half-stretch of one of the city’s busiest streets, transforming it into a community event filled with physical activity and fun. Known as Ciclovía, the event serves a bigger purpose: to reduce violence, forge community bonds, and promote health equity. To understand how organizers are advancing those goals, this case study explores the origins of Ciclovía, its successes and setbacks, next steps and lessons learned.

Taxes and health equity — letter to the editor tips

Letters to the editor can signal community interest about a particular public health issue and send a message to policymakers. But what makes for a compelling letter, and how can advocates increase their chances of getting published? To support public health advocates in writing effective letters on the importance of how taxes can advance health and equity, BMSG and Public Health Awakened created this resource.