Thirteenth Meeting: July 10, 2009

Secretary's Advisory Committee on
National Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Objectives for 2020

Phase II – Implementation, Evidence-based Actions, and Process for Choosing National Priorities
Via WebEx

Thirteenth Meeting: July 10, 2009

Committee Recommendations (Approved by Vote)

• No formal votes were taken during the meeting.

Committee Decisions (By Consensus)

• The Committee should make the following recommendations to the Secretary:
  • Population-oriented interventions should be made a priority for the comparative effectiveness research efforts that are underway at HHS.
  • In the development of evidence through linkages to Healthy People objectives, it is critical that gaps in the evidence-base be filled.
• The evidence paper should be amended to address the following issues:
  • Clarify priority public health and clinical preventive services for research to achieve greater equity in terms of who is being looked at and who is being served.
  • Emphasize that approaches are needed that fit the different circumstances of populations. The need for tailored approaches depends on the type of intervention.
  • Integrate the final version of the evidence report with the final priorities document.
• Concrete recommendations are needed for the types of interventions that will have an impact on the social determinants of health.

Next Steps

• The Subcommittee on Implementation will update their draft recommendations to reflect the proposed revisions. The Committee will vote on the final recommendations at their August meeting.
• The Subcommittee on Data and IT will finalize its recommendations in time for the next public meeting, when it will seek feedback from the full Committee.
• NORC will follow-up with Committee members to schedule upcoming subcommittee and Web-based Committee meetings. A meeting of the full Committee is planned for August 14, 2009.
• NORC will provide the Committee members with key resources mentioned during the meeting, including the link to the UCLA Health Impact Assessment Web site, the Carter Center report on Closing the Gap, a paper (to be sent by Dr. Kumanyika) that explains the concept of collective risk, and the report of the RWJF Commission on Building a Healthier America.

I.  Welcome and Introductions

Dr. Howard Koh, Assistant Secretary for Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), welcomed the Committee and thanked them for their dedication and service. He noted that Healthy People, with its emphasis on prevention, is a critical effort for the Department and the country. As a physician, public health professor, and former state health commissioner, Dr. Koh has been familiar with the Healthy People process throughout his career. He was pleased to learn that a social determinants approach is being emphasized in Healthy People 2020, because public health needs to move in this direction. Prevention is often overlooked. Dr. Koh expressed support for renewing the Committee's charter and said he had spoken with the Secretary about this issue. Dr. Jonathan Fielding, Chair of the Secretary's Advisory Committee, thanked Dr. Koh for his support. He noted that the members had been serving in a voluntary capacity, and were delighted to hear from HHS leadership that their hard work would make a difference.

Carter Blakey, Senior Advisor, Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (ODPHP), provided updates on the progress of Federal Interagency Workgroup (FIW). She explained that the FIW would begin meeting the following week to review individual proposed objectives for 2020 and noted that the process would involve lengthy, bi-weekly meetings through September 2009. The objectives would be posted for public comment in October 2009. ODPHP is planning a second round of public, regional meetings. Dates and locations for two of the meetings have been confirmed (October 22, 2009 in Kansas City, and November 7, 2009 in Philadelphia). The date for the third meeting had not been set, but would take place in Seattle, WA. ODPHP has reinvigorated the Healthy People Consortium, which has grown to almost 2,000 members. They are fleshing out the role of the Consortium to better leverage it as a resource for implementing Healthy People. Finally, she noted that they are looking into how to operationalize the Committee's recommendation to move to a Web-based format for delivering Healthy People objectives.