Reprinted with Permission, Society
for Public Health Education, "News & Views", Vol.
30, No. 2, 2003.
On November 11, 2002, SOPHE formally joined some 25 health and
science partners in forming the National Public Health Partnership.
This exciting new initiative aims to bridge the gap between public
health and museum and science centers to advance the quality of
exhibits, displays, and other hands-on educational opportunities
for the public on health promotion and disease prevention.
The Partnership's primary coordinators are the National Health
Museum, American Public Health Association, American Association
of Museums, and the Association of Science-Technology Centers Incorporated.
SOPHE's Past President, Dr. Fran Butterfoss attended the historic
first meeting and will serve as SOPHE's Ambassador to the Partnership,
funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Through meetings and dialogue, the Partnership aims to:
(1) identify and build upon model practices for promoting public
health in museum and science center settings;
(2) encourage the public health community to recognize and utilize
museums and science centers as effective places for information
on public health education; and
(3) help build capacity for public health programming in museum
and science center settings.
Joining the Partnership is one means of working
toward SOPHE's strategic plan goal #4, "To proactively market health education".
The Partnership represents a powerful opportunity for SOPHE to
collaborate with a credible, innovative sector with a similar goal
to improve the health of the public through education.
According to Mark Dunham, President of the
National Health Museum, "A
long-term goal of the Partnership is to create a well-informed
public health and museum and science center constituency prepared
to help identify public health priorities for the National Health
Museum." SOPHE has been supporting the concept of a National
Health Museum to be built on the Mall in Washington, D.C., a national
site where thousands of visitors to the nation's capitol each year
would learn about all aspects of health.
"The Partnership will stimulate an exciting new synergy between
two previously 'independent' sectors," said Elaine Auld, SOPHE
Executive Director. "Given the diversity of health issues,
audiences and other challenges in this 21st century, now is the
time for our public health and science center communities to collaborate
in making a difference in the public's health."
The Partnership will convene in May 2003 in Portland. Stay tuned
for project updates from Fran Butterfoss (fbutterf@chkd.com).
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