Writing Effective Policy Briefs Workshop

The goals of workshop were to provide:

• Knowledge and skills to advocate for programs and policies that affect the lives of individuals with developmental and related disabilities and their families; and
• Knowledge and skills to examine the policy process, current issues, and specific pieces of legislation that affect the lives of individuals with neurodevelopmental and related disabilities.

The session centered around policy briefs, as short policy briefs are useful for conveying the implications of scientific evidence for policy and practice.  Writing effective policy briefs requires a specific set of communication skills.

The agenda for the policy and advocacy workshop was:

• Lecture from Carolyn Gleason, HRSA, Region X MCH Consultant: "Why Should an MCH Fellow / Trainee Care about Public Health" 
• Policy and Advocacy Self-Assessment, Pre-Test (Attachment 1)
• Overview of Policy Briefs: Translating Science and Engaging Stakeholders (Attachment 2)
• Break and transition to small groups
• Read article* and use the template to draft a policy brief (Attachments 3 and 4)  
• Present your Policy Brief - 5 minutes per group

* Maternal Depressive Symptoms and Children's Receipt of Health Care in the First 3 Years of Life

** Documents and article are from the Johns Hopkins Women's and Children's Health Policy Center: http://www.jhsph.edu/research/centers-and-institutes/womens-and-childrens-health-policy-center/de/policy_brief/index.html. Documents and article are copyrighted but can be used for nonprofit educational or research purposes provided that the following attribution appears in all copies: "Reproduced with permission of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD."

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