Prevention Matters

Partnership for Prevention recently exhibited at the 2010 National Conference of State Legislators (NCSL) in Louisville, Kentucky. The conference was widely attended by legislators, legislative staffers, government officials, business representatives, union members, foundation representatives and others interested in public policy. Concurrent sessions focused on the economy, transportation, education, health care, human services, energy, environment and professional development for legislators and staff. Many state representatives and senators came to the Partnership exhibit booth to hear information about the organization and its policy and programmatic efforts. Save Lives and Money - Help People on Medicaid Quit Tobacco, a new resource from Partnership for Prevention /ActionToQuit and the American Lung Association, garnered the most attention from state legislators and other conference attendees. This resource underscored that Medicaid recipients smoke more than any other population segment and made the argument that, by covering all of them, individual states could save both lives and money. Only six states lead the way in providing the seven recommended medications and group and individual counseling for all Medicaid patients. Save Lives and Money can be downloaded on the ActionToQuit website’s “Resources” section at http://actiontoquit.org/resources/.

Partnership staff also engaged legislators and staffers through the distribution of hand sanitizer, especially Kentucky Senator Gerald A. Neal (D). Senator Neal was intrigued by Partnership’s hand sanitizer “give away” as a mechanism to promote good health and prevent disease. The Kentucky Senator was very interested in distributing hand sanitizer at a community health event that stressed the importance of the prevention. During the dialogue, Partnership identified various health agenda intersections and plans to follow up with his office to discuss community health prevention. In addition to the hand sanitizer, Partnership also distributed a CD of the organization’s top five publications to legislative staffers. Entitled “NCSL 2010”, the CD included the following publications: 2009 Annual Report, CDC Action Guide: Places for Physical Activity, CDC Action Guide: Social Support for Physical Activity, Healthy Workforce 2010 and Beyond, Investing In Health, and Smokefree Policies. Legislative staffers liked the idea of having the organization’s most popular publications on a compact disc. Many expressed that it would help streamline their efforts when needing to consult with a “prevention” authority.