Public Health Comes to Life At Major Museum Meeting in Portland

Public health came to life at the recent American Association of Museums (AAM) Annual meeting in Portland, Oregon when Emmy award-winning educator and National Health Museum Trustee Bill Nye the Science Guy teamed up with American Public Health Association (APHA) President Dr. Jay Glasser to celebrate the National Public Health Partnership (NPHP). The annual meeting of the American Association of Museums (AAM) was attended by more than 4,000 museum professionals from throughout the United States and around the world.

The reception, which drew a diverse mix of both museum and science center leaders and public health experts, was held to celebrate the culmination of Phase 1 of the NPHP. Generously funded by The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the NPHP is being undertaken to help improve the nation’s health by “bridging the gap” between public health and informal education in museums and science centers across the country.

In an era when the American public is increasingly faced with questions and concerns about emerging diseases such as SARS, Nye engaged the crowd with creative experiments that demonstrated how infectious diseases are readily transmitted. Museum and public health professionals alike partook of the learning experience by donning surgical masks and participating in Nye’s inventive popcorn, vanilla extract and balloon-aided illustrations.

“Museums can change the world!” exclaimed Nye as he challenged the crowd to utilize informal learning as venues for public health education. Nye’s co-headliner, APHA President Glasser gave the crowd a stirring overview of public health history and the extraordinary advances that have directly resulted in major improvements in human mortality rates. Through his examples and anecdotes Glasser communicated the role public health plays in our changing world and daily lives, and charged the crowd with advancing the work of the NPHP to improve public health.

NPHP partners have spent the past year in a national dialogue that has brought museum and science center leaders together with public health professionals to consider how this Partnership can best serve the needs of their organizations, institutions, members and audiences. Prior to the NPHP reception, 15 leaders from museum and science centers and public health organizations participated in a working group meeting to assemble a vision for Phase 2 of the NPHP.

With the continued support and engagement of these and additional partners, the National Health Museum envisions a next phase of the NPHP that will serve both communities through a program of collaborative projects and resource sharing opportunities. Proposed Phase 2 efforts include an NPHP public health rapid response network that will distribute information and resources on pressing public health issues such as emerging diseases and bioterrorism, and the activities to celebrate National Public Health Week at museums and science centers across the country.