Thank you to all who participated in our member roundtable with guest presenters from Dartmouth Health in New Hampshire to learn more about the political determinants of health, how to build political will and savvy, and how to influence policy makers on important bills that ultimately impact the health of the communities we work with. In today’s case, we talked mostly about maternal health and the opioid crisis, but these takeaways broadly apply. Here’s what we came away with:

• To influence policy, coalition building is critical.
• Convene partners to build relationships and to educate on both baseline information and more complex topics. Let this be a catalyst for future discussion.
• Be sure that partners know what legislative opportunities exist and provide summaries of what is and isn’t happening.
• As you offer educational opportunities, be sure to measure increased understanding overtime.
• Building shared understanding increases the opportunity for greater influence.
• Think of the coalition, key partners, and legislators as an advocacy ecosystem.
• Remember to listen.
• Timely response is essential.
• Always be mindful of your political environment and when to use political capitol.

In case you missed this event, or want to revisit the discussion, materials are now available!