To support a Health Equity Movement, HPI conducts research and policy analysis, and supports initiatives to address the root causes of health inequities.  Major initiatives include PLACE MATTERS, the Commission on Paternal Involvement in Pregnancy Outcomes (CPIPO), and the National Health Policy Training Alliance. Our research includes an assessment of the economic consequences of health inequalities, disaster mitigation planning, and supporting youth.

HPI depends on collaborative linkages to leverage and sustain concerted action strategies. Our initiatives play a vital role in mobilizing a wide array of organizational resources, partners, and stakeholders who help to facilitate significant change in communities across the country. HPI targets research, best practices, and interventions that help to inform stronger health policy.

Specific activities of the Health Policy Institute include:

The PLACE MATTERS Initiative

With a focus on where people live as a determinant of health, the Joint Center’s PLACE MATTERS Initiative seeks to improve community conditions for fair health by working intensively with interdisciplinary teams to build their capacity to identify, communicate about, and address social determinants of health in their communities.  The objective of this Initiative is to eliminate health disparities by identifying their underlying causes and defining strategies to address them.  The Initiative’s national learning community consists of 16 locally supported PLACE MATTERS teams that design and implement strategies for addressing the environmental determinants of health impacting residents in 21 counties and three cities.  PLACE MATTERS teams empower communities to identify and address neighborhood social and economic conditions that shape health such as creating incentives for better food resources and options in underserved communities, developing community-level interventions for promoting better health through exercise and smoking cessation, and addressing environmental justice through aggressive monitoring and enforcement of laws aimed at preventing environmental degradation.

Focus on the Role of Expectant Fathers in Healthier Pregnancies and Babies

While much has been written about fathers' influence on child health and development, little is known about the male partners' influence on maternal health.  In response to this, HPI convened a new Commission on Paternal Involvement in Pregnancy Outcomes (CPIPO). CPIPO's purpose is to improve paternal involvement in pregnancy and family health by reframing debates and informing research, policy and practice to support greater involvement of fathers in pregnancy.  The objectives of CPIPO are to: 1) identify programmatic barriers to improving men's preconception health and paternal involvement in pregnancy and suggest options for overcoming barriers; 2) develop standardized research, policy, educational and practice guidelines for improving paternal involvement in pregnancy outcomes and; 3) develop a national media strategy intended to shift the men's health focus to a more positive, direct, active and constructive role in the reproductive health agenda.
 
This year, the Commission on Paternal Involvement in Pregnancy Outcomes members Amina P. Alio, M. Jermane Bond, Yolanda C.Padilla, Joel J. Hindelbaugh, Michael Lu, and Willie J. Parker published a manuscript, "Addressing Policy Barriers to Paternal Involvement During Pregnancy" in The Maternal and Child Health Journal. More publications from CPIPO members can be viewed here.

Targeted Research and Policy Analysis on the Economic Impact of Health Inequalities

In 2009, HPI published The Economic Burden of Health Inequalities which quantified the economic consequences of racial and ethnic health inequalities for the nation as a whole.  In that study, Joint Center’s researchers found that over the 4-year period of the study, between 2003 and 2006, the nation spent nearly $230 billion dollars to address direct medical costs associated with the excess burden of disease and disability in communities of color.  When indirect costs are considered (such as lost wages, productivity, and tax revenue when people are too sick to work or die prematurely), the total cost to the nation was $1.24 trillion.  This research continues to offer pivotal evidence for policymakers developing legislation and fact sheets that address health care reform legislation.  In addition, HPI and the National Health Policy Training Alliance for Communities of Color, released a new report, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010: Advancing Health Equity for Racially and Ethnically Diverse Populations.  The report takes a comprehensive look at the new health care reform law to understand its implications for addressing health inequities. 

National Health Policy Training Alliance for Communities of Color

The overarching mission of the National Health Policy Training Alliance is to empower African-American and Latino community leaders and health care journalists with pertinent information about health policy developments.  These efforts will expand their capacity to address and catalyze action on crucial health care issues; bolster African-American and Latino leaders' efforts to play a more influential role in advocating for health policies that are relevant to their respective communities; and engage African-American and Latino leaders in the national health policy sharing and development process.

Toward these ends, the Alliance members, both individually and collectively, are actively engaged in efforts to fulfill the intended mission, goals, and objectives of this W.K. Kellogg-funded grant.

Disaster Mitigation Planning: An Inclusive Approach to Disaster Preparedness and Recovery

More than 23 million Americans live in areas vulnerable to hurricane catastrophe. A fifth of those living in these areas are poor and, if the lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina hold true, many will not have the resources they need to save themselves when disaster hits. Other potential disasters impacting Americans across the fifty states include fires, mudslides, storms, floods, earthquakes, tornadoes, and acts of terrorism.

Each phase of disaster and emergency preparedness presents opportunities for effective community engagement and inclusion of racial minorities in positive ways. The inevitability of disasters and the disproportionate vulnerability of low income communities create an imperative for innovative approaches to "connecting the dots" between emergency preparedness efforts, public health systems and community-based resources for strengthening mitigation and recovery capacities. This initiative is funded by The California Endowment Fund.

Publications include Environmental Justice Through the Eye of Hurricane Katrina, No More Katrinas: How Reducing Disparities Can Promote Disaster Preparedness, Understanding the Role of African American Churches and Clergy in Community Crisis Response, and In the Wake of Katrina: The Continuing Saga of Housing and Rebuilding New Orleans.

Presentations include Addressing Health Disparities in Your Preparedness Planning and Lest We Forget: Can Katrina Happen Here?

The Dellums Commision: Better Health through Stronger Communities: Public Policy Reform to Expand Life Paths of Young Men of Color
 
The charge of the Dellums Commission is to analyze the impact of several key public policies on the physical, emotional, and social health of minority youth.  During the past three decades, a series of policies have had a negative impact upon young men from communities of color.  These policies include abandonment of rehabilitation programs for drug users, diverting youth offenders to adult criminal systems, and imposing zero tolerance policies to exclude youth with problems from public schools.

The hardening of these policies has had a cumulative effect of limiting life options for young men of color as indicated by increasing high school drop-out rates, declining enrollment in post-secondary education, and by increasing rates of incarceration. The Commission seeks to reverse these trends by recommending better policies in education, mental health, family support, child welfare, legal defense systems, and juvenile and criminal justice.

Publications include Meeting the Health Needs of Youth Involved in the Juvenile Justice System, Public Policies and Practices in Child Welfare Systems that Affect Life Options for Children of Color, A “Shout Out” from Youth to Our Nation’s Leaders, and Black Male Students at Public Flagship Universities in the U.S.