National Resource Center for Advancing Policy as a Public Health Intervention to Reduce Morbidity, Mortality and Disparities in HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STDs, and TB - National Network of Public Health Institutes Component 2 Proposal for Funding Opportunity CDC-RFA-PS-23-0009: Advancing Policy as a Public Health Intervention to Reduce Morbidity, Mortality and Disparities in HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STDs, and Tuberculosis Project Abstract In the United States, much of the structural inequality that drives health disparities across race, sex, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, ability, and socio-economic class arises from operation of the law. There are laws that perpetuate inequity in all social structures, including housing, healthcare, education, and beyond. In public health, these factors are identified as social determinants of health—conditions in the places people live, learn, work, and play that affect a wide range of health and quality-of-life risks and outcomes. As a result, inequities in these areas translate directly to disparities in health. Reducing health disparities and decreasing the morbidity and mortality of diseases can reduce healthcare costs, improve governmental efficiency and accountability, and improve the overall health of a population. In order to decrease the mortality, morbidity, and disparities of HIV, viral Hepatitis, STDs, and TB in U.S. populations experiencing health disparities, and in response to Component 2 of the Notice of Funding Opportunity, NNPHI will create a Technical Assistance Coordination and Resource Center (“Resource Center”) to provide both proactive and responsive technical assistance to leaders making decisions in public health in state, local, tribal, and territorial jurisdictions navigating complex law and policy issues. All TA activities (including TA requests, TA triage, and documentation of TA provision) will be housed withing a customized Salesforce-based system designed to streamline the experience of requestors, providers, the project team, and CDC team members. The Resource Center will be staffed by a diverse cadre of subject matter experts (SMEs) serving as technical assistance (TA) providers with expertise in implementing policy-based interventions at every jurisdictional level to address health disparities. NNPHI proposes an initial slate of SMEs with expansive knowledge of law and policy implementation considerations across multiple jurisdictions, with the ability to quick identify and contract with additional SMEs should TA requests indicate a need for broader or different expertise. TA providers will utilize two approaches to meeting the needs of public health decisionmakers: 1) Respond to individual TA requests with tailored support; and 2) Create resources based on evidence-based best and promising practices and the ever-evolving policy landscape of new and proposed legislation, updated data from varied sources, and all new resources produced by Component 1. Leveraging the national reach of our public health institute network, with 47 institutes providing public health services and partnerships in all fifty states plus Washington, DC and Puerto Rico, NNPHI will disseminate all resources compiled and produced during the project including Success Stories from participants; proactively reach out to jurisdictions across the country to increase awareness of TA offerings and opportunities; and convene stakeholders in collaboration with CDC via regional webinars, facilitated conversations, and learning labs. NNPHI will evaluate project success by tracking TA metrics, TA recipient satisfaction, dissemination metrics, legislation relevant to project topics, and public health data sets published during the project.
