Choosing Policy: Action for Lasting Change
Sarah Kile knows that policies last longer than programs when it comes to improving health. As the health educator and grant writer for the Central Michigan District Health Department, she’s helped efforts to allow local pharmacies and hospitals to take unneeded prescription pills – a legislative change that will aid the community for years to come. Additionally, because of her work with local schools, students will be picking fresh fruit from trees and bushes on school grounds for generations.
Kile is focused on long-standing health and wellness improvements for her coverage area of six counties. One person overseeing one program can do only so much – especially when funding runs out. By changing or creating policies to suit a community’s needs, by contrast, you make lasting change.
“This is not about today,” Kile said in a County Health Rankings & Roadmaps webinar on July 23, 2013. “It’s about a much bigger picture.”
Kile stressed the importance of relationship building in creating policy change. When building support for a policy initiative, it’s important for stakeholders to understand that policy is about building a lasting culture of health. To increase participation, the Central Michigan District Health Department solicited opinions from residents (even passing around a survey at grocery stores) to identify priorities and then select strategies to work on. It is also important to create policy changes on many levels; in the central Michigan region some of the changes were done at a school level, and some involved elected officials.
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