10 Essential Public Health Services
5. IMPLEMENTATION
Create, champion, and implement policies, plans, and laws that impact health
Public Health is responsible for creating, championing, and implementing policies, plans, and programs that improve health. This involves designing, developing, researching, and rolling out tactics. Policies, plans, and programs are Public Health’s tools for making real-world change. Through implementation, Public Health and its partners enact changes that help to shift vital community conditions and impact health.
Equity & Systems
Implementation must ensure equitable access to and benefits from policies, laws, and programs. In designing, supporting, and implementing policies, Public Health should operationalize equity by:
- Co-designing with the community
- Centering the health needs of the most vulnerable communities
- Incorporating evidence-based approaches to reduce inequities
- Considering unintended consequences of interventions on priority populations
Public Health in Action
Public health departments use Community Health Improvement Plans to articulate their long-term, systematic effort to address public health problems in a community. Tactics put forth in CHIPs are implemented in collaboration by Public Health and other relevant partners over time.
Priorities
Promote health, well-being and equity in all policies, plans, and programs
Prioritize policies, plans, and programs that are multisolving
Co-design with and tailor implementation strategies to specific communities and priority populations
Reflection Questions
- How can CHIPs guide and support Public Health implementation strategies and tactics?
- How can Public Health advance equity as part of implementation activities?