Public Health 3.0
#PH3 Related News
Public Health 3.0 is a major upgrade in public health practice to emphasize cross-sectoral policy, and systems-level actions that directly affect the social determinants of health and advance health equity. It represents a challenge to business leaders, community leaders, state lawmakers, and Federal policymakers to incorporate health into all areas of governance.
The Public Health 3.0 initiative is led by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH) and builds on the work of Healthy People 2020, which encourages collaborations across communities and sectors.
How OASH Is Implementing Public Health 3.0
Throughout 2016, OASH has hosted regional listening sessions with community leaders from the private and public sectors to learn more about opportunities to improve and modernize public health.
In October 2016, OASH issued a white paper titled “Public Health 3.0: A Call to Action to Create a 21st Century Public Health Infrastructure.” This white paper provides recommendations for advancing Public Health 3.0.
- Read the full Public Health 3.0 white paper [PDF – 4.4 MB].
- Read recommendations from the Public Health 3.0 white paper [PDF – 197 KB].
- View the Public Health 3.0 slides [PDF – 739 KB].
OASH hosted a national meeting with Public Health 3.0 stakeholders on October 18, 2016. Watch the webcast.
Why We Need Public Health 3.0
Despite public health’s increasing focus on how environments impact health, our ZIP codes remain a more accurate determinant of health than our genetic codes. As a society, we have a collective responsibility to create conditions that allow all members of our communities to make healthy choices. And yet public health initiatives often exist in silos, resulting in missed opportunities to leverage the critical knowledge of communities to improve health at the local level.
Public Health 3.0 calls for us to boldly expand public health to address all aspects of life that promote health and well-being, including:
- Economic development
- Education
- Transportation
- Food
- Environment
- Housing
- Safe neighborhoods
How to Achieve Public Health 3.0
To make Public Health 3.0 a reality, we must draw on leadership from both the public and private sectors that impact community health—for example, housing, education, and economic development. Partners from sectors like these must work collaboratively to improve health outcomes and advance health equity. Additionally, we must empower local leaders to be the chief health strategists in their communities.
The opportunities presented by this new vision of public health are extensive. By increasing stakeholders and working to foster creativity and innovation across sectors, we can make lasting gains in public health across our Nation’s increasingly diverse communities.
