A Unified Voice for Physical Activity Advocacy [Podcast Series]
[:56] Dr. Bantham introduces her guest, Dr. Laurie Whitsel
Vice President of Policy Research and Translation for the American Heart Association.
Dr. Whitsel is also a Senior Advisor for the Physical Activity Alliance.
[1:22] Translating science into policy/action
“We really want to take strategies, take policy that is going to, that has evidence for health impact and equity impact, and apply it to our strategic policy agenda and mission.”
[3:32] Challenges in translation
“So that is part of the work that we do in policy research, is that due diligence to put forth a policy agenda that is going to be impactful, equity-focused, strategically aligned, and that, if we accomplish it, will be transformational in terms of population health.”
[6:14] Making science and research relevant for policymakers
“[Policymakers] are also worried about how to pay for whatever they are asked to pass. We often bring the science argument to them, but we also have to bring the economic argument to policymakers, and we also have to bring the health impact. We speak different languages, and so doing that translation is really, really important.”
[8:01] Investing in resources to get people physically active
“I actually think we need more of that economic analysis in our work on physical activity.”
[9:37] Reconciling timeframe for value on investment
“Sometimes we might have a policy priority or policy strategy that’s not going to save money in the long term or return money in the long term, but it can improve health and create value.”
[10:55] Creation of the Physical Activity Alliance
“It brings together the powerful roadmap/strategic plan of the National Physical Activity Plan Alliance, combined with the advocacy and policy work of the National Coalition for Promoting Physical Activity, with the professional education/public health education work of the National Physical Activity Society.”
[13:52] A unified voice for physical activity advocacy
“I really hope that by coming together we have, as you say, created this unified voice, but I hope that will be appealing to funders. There is so much important work for us to do, and I think it is much easier for funders to see a unified voice, and to know where to put resources into making things happen.”
[15:11] Development of a physical activity advocacy strategy
“There are four pillars to successful advocacy work—policy research, government relations or educating policy makers, media advocacy, and grassroots. Putting all four of those together, I think we have four of those elements pretty much in the new Physical Activity Alliance.”
[17:33] Physical activity advocacy as a team effort
“This is what has been really wonderful about the Physical Activity Alliance is everybody that has come together to make this happen and make this work—it is a total team effort.”
[18:35] Promising developments around worksite wellness
“I think one of the most exciting trends in the space right now is that we are acknowledging that we need to actually shift the environment in which people work, not just the programming, not just worksite health promotion programming, but the environment is so incredibly important.”
[21:34] Impact of COVID-19 on agenda and priorities
“COVID has impacted our work across the board...where telehealth, for example, is rising and is an opportunity to deliver care to our cardiovascular disease patients...being able to modernize and update our whole public health infrastructure and surveillance infrastructure.”
[23:21] Chronic disease as a COVID-19 risk factor
“We have to continue to promote nutrition and physical activity as a critical way to stay healthy, and then we have to really address the infectious disease and what this means for people with chronic health conditions.”
[26:30] Integrating physical activity and healthcare
“Focusing in on embedding physical activity across the healthcare environment is a personal passion of mine.”
