Healthy Lifestyle Initiative

Making the Healthy Choice the Easy Choice

Develop a good strategy

• Develop Policy Goals

In developing policy goals, it is important to think clearly about what strategy is most likely to succeed. This decision-making process should include consideration of whether an initiative is likely to pass, given the current

political climate; what the cost of a campaign to pass the initiative would be (both in terms of time and resources); and how difficult a policy will be to implement or enforce.

• Develop a sound political foundation for a campaign to advance local policy change.

Once practitioners have identified clear objectives for policy change, they must formulate a strategy for mobilizing support and galvanizing the political

will necessary to ensure its adoption by decision-makers. Part of this process involves identifying individuals and stakeholder groups who are affected by or are interested in a particular problem.

• Thoroughly evaluate the potential impact of lobbying activities on your organization.

Both government and non-government organizations need to consider the potential implications of embarking on a campaign for policy change. Government organizations and those non-profit organizations with substantial government or corporate funding should consider the fiscal implications of advocacy work. For example, before advocating for policy change around an issue that is highly controversial, an organization should consider whether

these types of activities could jeopardize any of its funding sources. In addition, government organizations or government-funded organizations may be specifically banned from engaging in any type of activity surrounding

certain issues (i.e. family planning).

• Framing the Need for Change

The way that a problem is defined affects what solutions will be proposed to address it. Narrow problem definitions are more likely to persuade policymakers to follow a specific course of action. Depending on the desired

outcome, advocates may want to examine how they define the problem at hand. Additionally, advocates are more likely get policy-makers’ attention if they not only point out a problem, but also articulate a realistic solution.