What does this team do for our community?
The Policy, Research & Evaluation team evaluates systems to identify opportunities to improve health equity, researches best practices to inform recommendations, and advocates and implements policy that creates and promotes better health. By focusing on systems, or the structures that
create the communities we live within, we have opportunities uniquely and
effectively address public health.
These efforts influence both our work within Columbus Public Health and the community we serve with our five priority policy areas always in mind:
Built Environment
Family Health
Food Systems
Mental Health & Substance Use
*Access to Care* (subject to change)
Policy shapes the world we live in and continues to be a primary focus for public health professionals identifying opportunities to empower our community.
Access to Care
Access to
affordable, quality health care is important to physical, social, and mental
health. Having access to care allows community members to enter the health care
system, find care easily and locally, pay for care, and get their health needs
met. Adopting and carrying out strategies that reduce barriers to care
and promote preventative healthcare to better match the needs of the community
can increase access to care, improve health and well-being and reduce health
disparities. Examples of access to care policy include:
Health Insurance (Medicaid,
Marketplace, Medicare, private, etc.)
Navigating Healthcare Systems
Availability of Culturally
Competent Healthcare Resources
Quality of Healthcare
Built Environment
How our communities are
planned, designed and built can have a major influence on our health. The built
environment affects how much exercise we get, our exposure to environmental
hazards, and our access to opportunity. Our work focuses on improving health
and safety in the places where people live, work, learn, and play. Examples of
built environment policy include:
Housing Stability
Transportation Equity
Parks and Greenspace Access
Zoning Reform
Family Health
The well-being of mothers,
infants, children, and families is a reflection of a community’s health and
social condition. These populations’ most serious health outcomes – including
maternal and infant morbidity and mortality – are affected by multiple complex
factors ranging from personal behaviors to systems-level issues. Family Health policy
aims to address a wide range of conditions that affect the health,
wellness, and quality of life for women, children, and families in our
community. Examples of family health policy include:
Health Care Before, During & After Pregnancy
Chronic Stress & Birth Outcomes
Infant, Child & Adolescent Wellness
Health Education Standards
Food Systems
Food security is a
determinant of health and is defined as access to acceptable,
affordable, and fresh food. Often, health and racial disparities create unequal
access to food, thereby creating an inequitable food system. These inequities
are magnified by historical and current policies and
practices that have unfairly created barriers to access related to employment,
wages, housing, neighborhood investment, and social safety net programs.
Examples of food policy include:
Urban
Agriculture & Land Use
Community
Health & Nutrition
Food
Supply & Food Waste
City
of Columbus & Franklin County Local Food Action Plan
Mental Health & Substance Use
Mental health and substance
use disorders have substantial influence on overall health and everyday
life. These illnesses are often common, chronic, and serious, but
with access to affordable, quality support services, those suffering can
recover. Reducing the stigma of these disorders while reducing and
removing barriers to care and recovery are vital to empowering a healthy
community. Examples of mental health and substance use policy include:
Community & Peer Support Services
Integrated Care & Effective Treatment
Addiction (Opiates, Amphetamine, Tobacco, etc.)
Long-Term Recovery & Resiliency