WBT Flipbooks

14 Well Being Trust | Annual Report | Policy and Advocacy Policy remains one of the most significant factors that limits the rate of change in scaling clinical and community transformation. But, at the same time, focused policy work has the potential to increase the rate and effectiveness of change at federal, state and local levels. Further, policy can be leveraged to influence public funding systems to change conditions, incent or require additional adjustments in practices and behaviors in alignment with the evidence, and ultimately support clinical and community innovations. Policy is movement in a direction for a reason. 11 We believe that to fundamentally improve the health of the nation, we need to move together in a new direction—one that does not prioritize sickness but promotes health and does not weigh one facet of health over another but recognizes that health is whole and not structured in arbitrary categories like 'mental' and 'physical.' Our understanding of policy and the current way most policy is advanced in silos requires us to think about how we can help policymakers and influencers address issues in a more systematic way. To this end, we are actively working to bring in strategic partners to create a policy ecosystem that can accomplish our goals in alignment with our overall mission. In our first year, we have taken specific steps in policy and advocacy through increasing outreach and awareness of who we are and what role we will play in policy, partnering with strategic organizations and leaders, and deciding what we want this policy ecosystem to do to advance our goals relating to mental health. POLICY AND ADVOCACY NATIONAL MEDIA ATTENTION Through partnership with Trust for America's Health, the national introduction and dissemination of the Pain in the Nation report was covered in more than 100 national and state publications and news outlets, including National Public Radio, The Washington Post, Reuters and The New York Times, and reached more than 3 million people—helping advance Well Being Trust's calls to action and supporting data among advocates, allies and policymakers nationwide. The report will continue to be a source of continued learning in Well Being Trust's 2018 policy engagement program. THE THEORY OF ACTION FOR WELL BEING TRUST'S POLICY WORK REVOLVES AROUND THREE CORE PRINCIPLES 1. Identifying the policy barriers that prevent people, communities, states and the country from achieving optimal health and wellness 2. Assessing the best solutions for solving the problems 3. Applying these solutions, at the right time, to help bring about change.

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