Recommendations for Policy Makers
#1 EDUCATION: Policy makers must raise the educational attainment of Black students at all levels. We support the investments Gov. Gregoire is making in education for all students. More info
- We want education reform efforts to continue until the achievement and opportunity gap is closed.
- We also endorse the recommendations of our Black Education Strategy Roundtable.
#2 HEALTH PROMOTION/DISEASE & INJURY PREVENTION:
- Black people must stop being our own worst enemies. We must embrace healthy living.
- Policy makers must shift investments of taxpayer dollars. It's time to spend MORE on increasing healthy behavior -- much more. Healthy behaviors have a greater impact on overall wellness than the health care system does, as shown in the graphs below. It's time to recognize this fact and spend our taxpayer money accordingly. This is especially true in the Black community, where increases in healthy behavior are urgently needed to start narrowing the health gap.
| What Influences Our Health | Where Health Dollars Go |
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#3 ECONOMIC & SOCIAL CONDITIONS: Economic and social conditions contribute to the health gap. These conditions include poor housing, environmental hazards, workplace hazards, and institutional racism in the health care and public health systems. Closing the health gap requires policy action on all these fronts. This action must include measures to end discrimination in employment and housing, eliminating environmental hazards, elimination of cultural bias and the lack of cultural competency in the health system, and increased investment in public health systems. While these investments are necessary and important, we believe that education and health promotion in the Black community are the top priorities relative to closing the health gap.
#4 SUSTAIN PROMISING MODELS: We encourage policy makers to support promising models that counter institutional bias and our community's mistrust in health care systems. One such program is the Health Navigator program funded in the 2007 Legislative Session. We know that programs like this one have improved health outcomes in other states. We expect similar results in Washington.
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