05/19/10 – Building Public Will to Achieve Access to Health
by Scott DownesSenior Project Director, The Colorado Trust
At various times in the past, Americans routinely drove without seatbelts, smoking was an omnipresent fact of life (and death) and those most closely associated with environmental concerns were perceived to be well outside the mainstream. Today, seatbelts are mandatory in most places, smoking rates have plummeted dramatically over time and environmental issues enjoy widespread support. One of the key ingredients in the evolution of these issues over the years was public will.
Building public will requires awareness of the problem, a clear understanding about the problem and, ultimately, support for shared solutions that address the problem. This process, which can unfold over decades, results in sustained shifts in attitude and behavior, and in a lasting shift in social norms and expectations. Public will is what has resulted in intolerance for people smoking around kids, driving without a seatbelt or filling up trash cans with an endless stream of plastic water bottles.
The Trust's interest in public will building stems from its commitment to help achieve access to health for all Coloradans. Last month, we announced a new funding opportunity focused on building public will to help achieve this vision. Through this three-year strategy, The Trust will work with grantees to increase awareness, understanding and demand for the kinds of policy and system changes necessary to ensure that all Coloradans have access to health coverage and care.
Though this strategy was conceived before federal health reform was realized, the passage of the health reform law provides a new outlook that offers both opportunities and challenges. More Coloradans are aware of the failings of the health care system, yet differing understandings about health coverage and care persist, and the impact of health policy on families and communities is often misunderstood. These differing understandings pose a threat to implementing the new health reform law, sustaining changes achieved and pushing for future improvements to health coverage and care – all of which reinforces the importance of building public will.
The need to build public will around access to health issues is explored in a new Trust Issue Brief. The brief outlines the different phases of public will-building, and offers a case study of how, through various setbacks and successes, public will building helped advance another complex, politically-charged issue: the environmental movement.
The environmental case study provides valuable lessons for us going forward. Effective efforts to build public will require credible information to be shared and framed in ways that reach and resonate with key audiences. Champions, ambassadors and leaders – individuals, organizations and groups alike – are needed to share and reinforce critical information, and to connect information to the values people already hold. Cultivating a personal conviction is imperative, as widespread ownership of an issue leads to widespread opportunity to build lasting support.
Drawing on these lessons, The Trust's public will-building strategy will include direct grant support for communications and advocacy efforts, networking and outreach activities, leadership development and strengthening new and traditional media. It is not intended to be a short-term campaign to build support for one piece of legislation, one ballot initiative or even one policy objective. Rather, building public will encompasses increasing awareness, education, engagement and organizing. Ultimately, the totality of this work results in a strengthened and expanded network of organizations and supporters who take action to demand and support change.
Even in the shadow of historic progress, we know the corrugated landscape of health care requires this kind of ambitious effort to help ensure a lasting demand that all Coloradans have sufficient health coverage and access to quality, affordable health care. We also know that such an endeavor requires many diverse collaborators and partners pulling in the same direction, aligned with a similar vision. So as this new grant strategy unfolds, we hope many others will join the effort to build the requisite public will to help achieve access to health for all Coloradans.
For more information about The Colorado Trust's public will-building grant strategy, contact Scott Downes.
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