From Deficit to Action: Rebuilding Policy and Advocacy Capacity in the Public Health Workforce

Federal health policy protections and health-related funding are being eroded, yet policy windows exist at every governmental level to improve the public’s health. To strengthen health policies, restore lost funding, and maximize emerging policy windows, the public health workforce must be prepared to advocate for policy and systems change. Evidence suggests that the public health workforce is ill prepared to do so. In this article, we introduce three compelling indicators from the National Board of Public Health Examiners that further illustrate a lack of workforce policy and advocacy expertise including poor domain scores on a national certification exam, a dearth of related continuing education submissions and offerings, and low self-reported rankings for policy and advocacy-related job tasks. We then offer six approaches to improving workforce policy and advocacy expertise. Addressing this problem is key to rebuilding our public health infrastructure, reducing health care inequities, and improving health outcomes.