[SOPHE Leadership] Hlth Ed Advocate (fwd)

[Cezanne Garcia]

Health Educators: see what your professional health education
organizations are doing for you!

NEW ADVOCACY WEBSITE LAUNCHED FOR HEALTH EDUCATORS

Washington, DC - A new "one-stop-shop" website containing advocacy alerts,
Federal legislation, testimony, fact sheets, and other public policy tools
for health education and health promotion professionals is being launched
today, as voters take to the polls.

The Health Education Advocate (www.healtheducationadvocate.org), sponsored
by the Coalition of National Health Education Organizations (CNHEO),
provides a central source of timely advocacy information so that health
professionals can take a more proactive role in shaping public policy that
supports healthier individuals, communities, and environments. The site
enables users to search the status of specific bills, send emails to their
Congresspersons, access health resolutions and policy statements of
sponsoring organizations, identify advocacy training opportunities, and
provides tips for working with the media.

The new E-resource is an outgrowth of more than five years of
collaborative advocacy action on behalf of CNHEO members: American
Association of Health Education; American College Health Association;
American Public Health Association (APHA) Public Health Education and
Health Promotion Section; APHA School Health Education and Services
Section; American School Health Association; Association of State and
Territorial Directors of Health Promotion and Public Health Education; Eta
Sigma Gamma; Society for Public Health Education; and Society of State
Directors of Health, Physical Education and Recreation.

"This website is the first of its kind and combines the resources of nine
professional groups to facilitate consistent advocacy messages and action
among the nation's health education specialists," says Ellen Capwell, PhD,
CHES (certified health education specialist), Coordinator of the CNHEO and
Associate Professor, Otterbein College. "We want health educators to
provide input into the political process not only today, Election Day, but
every day hereafter to improve the health of adults and youth.

Founded in 1972, the CNHEO is a non-profit 501(c)(3) federation of
organizations dedicated to advancing the profession of health education by
strengthening communication and action among member organizations.
Collectively, CNHEO members represent more than 26,000 professionals and
students dedicated to health promotion and health education in all major
areas -- the community, elementary and secondary schools, colleges and
universities, worksites, health care settings, and international
organizations.

The CNHEO has sponsored an Annual Health Education Advocacy Summit since
1998 to develop a core legislative agenda, build capacity and competencies
of health educators to advocate effectively, and visit with key
Congressional committees, Senators, and Representatives. For additional
information about the CNHEO, see http://www.hsc.usf.edu/CFH/cnheo/.

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_________________________________
Elaine Auld, MPH, CHES
Executive Director
Society for Public Health Education
750 First St, NE, #910
Washington, DC 20002
phone: (202) 408-9804
fax: (202) 408-9815

SOPHE 53rd Annual Meeting
November 8-9, 2002
Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza
Philadelphia, PA
email: eauld at sophe.org
web: www.sophe.org