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The Role of Law in Defining Your Public Health Job

by Darlene Huang Briggs and Emma Kaeser

Overview

Thursday, October 17, 2024 | 1:30 – 3:00 CT

Join us for a discussion of how the law can provide guidance in defining your public health work. Hear from colleagues about how they are navigating a challenging post-pandemic landscape and how the way in which we approach our work shapes public health practice, the law that governs our practice, and the public’s health.

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10-17-24 The Role of Law in Defining Your Public Health JobDownload

Public health officials and practitioners are generally tasked with protecting and promoting the public’s health. The public they serve are diverse in many ways and are unique both intra- and inter-jurisdictionally. Laws and policy ecosystems also vary from one jurisdiction to another. This makes one-size-fits-all solutions imperfect and requires tailored assistance to apply generally applicable public health principles to jurisdiction and population-specific situations.

Still, the law provides a baseline for understanding and navigating the political system in which public health officials and practitioners work, alongside many others, to protect and promote the public’s health.

Join us for a discussion of how the law can provide guidance in defining your public health work. Hear from colleagues about how they are navigating a challenging post-pandemic landscape and how the way in which we approach our work shapes public health practice, the law that governs our practice, and the public’s health.

By attending this webinar, you will:

  • Learn about:
    • attempts to both limit and improve what actions government can take to protect and promote the public’s health as tracked by Act for Public Health and others
    • governing principles and sources of law that define how the public health system operates
    • how colleagues are working to maximize their effectiveness in response to the changing public health environment
  • Explore:
    • the range of roles each of us plays in influencing public health laws and policies
    • how your work influences decisionmakers
  • Gain an understanding of the importance of civic engagement for both the public’s health and the public health system

Speakers:

  • Attica Scott, Director of Special Projects, Forward Justice Action Network and Former Kentucky State Representative
  • Jason Orcena, Health Commissioner, Union County Health Department (Ohio)
  • Meghan Senne, Policy Coordinator, Jackson County Public Health (Missouri)
  • Laurie Forlano, State Epidemiologist, Virginia Department of Health
  • Emma Kaeser, Staff Attorney, Mid-States Region, Network for Public Health Law

Moderator:

  • Darlene Huang Briggs, Deputy Director of Special Projects, Network for Public Health Law