Summary

Wellbeing and Public Health Policy are connected. Learn about the public health policy initiatives in your state. Contact your elected officials and demand that they support funding for federal agencies which conduct research on and develop public health policy. Love, not hate, will improve the health and wellbeing of everyone.

Wellbeing and Public Health Policy

Wellbeing and public health policy are intricately linked. Let’s explore the intersection of wellbeing and public health policy.

What Is Public Health Policy

Public health policy refers to regulations, laws, and government plans and protocols to protect the health of everyone in all settings.

The Constitution of the United States of America, its Amendments, and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 delineate that all persons are equal in this United States of America. Thus, public health policies are designed to protect the health of everyone.

Wellbeing and Public Health Policy in All Settings

The idea that public health policy protects the health of everyone in all settings is pertinent to a discussion on wellbeing. Our wellbeing is not confined to our experience at home. Our sense of wellbeing extends to the workplace, our places of worship, our leisure spaces, the community spaces we share, places in which we engage in political activities, locations designated for exercise, and anywhere a human being may be found. Public health policies apply to all of these places.

Yes, public health policy is relevant to political activities.

When you go out to vote, where you vote matters for public health. Imagine that you have contracted the measles: not inconceivable in the USA today. You should not go to the polling station while in the infectious stage of measles. You do not want to lose your vote and you live in a state which does not permit mail-in voting except under very limited circumstances. Your measles infection was not predictable (well, without being vaccinated, it actually was: read my previous post about vaccines). Your state will allow you to request an absentee ballot at the polling station, while you remain in your car. The poll workers do not have any personal protective equipment available to them. And, measles is transmissible via airborne droplets: it is very contagious.

It sounds like your state does not have a robust set of public health policies in place. Yes, you may have just lost the right to vote today. The story does not end here. This is an opportunity to request a change in public health policy protocols and plans in your state. Because, public health policy extends to your right to vote.

Social Connectedness for Wellbeing and Public Health Policy

I frequently mention the importance of social connectedness for wellbeing. The literature demonstrates the significance of even brief social encounters, small talk if you will, to our wellbeing. We need each other.

Public health policy contributes on many levels to our wellbeing through social connectedness. An obvious variable is the protection against infectious diseases. Another variable is our physical safety.

Wellbeing: Public Health Policy Includes Community Safety

Community safety in the context of public health policy relates to protecting the public in community settings from risks to the health of individuals. Health status is linked to our sense of wellbeing.

The health of individuals is impacted by the environmental safety of their communities. Gun violence, crime, and traffic concerns comprise some of the components involved in safety in our communities. Safety issues which impact the health of individuals, de facto affect the wellbeing of individuals and the wellbeing of their communities.

Let’s talk about today in the USA.

Masked people kidnapping our fellow residents based on the accent of our neighbours, the colour of their skin, and other personal characteristics is a public health policy concern. Living in fear affects one’s mental health. Being attacked or witnessing an attack on another person affects one’s mental health. Fearing what might happen whether a person leaves their home or stays at home affects one’s mental health.

And, as I have said in many of my previous posts, when one person experiences suffering, health impairments, mental health distress, and a less than optimal state of wellbeing, the entire community is affected.

Wellbeing and Public Health Policy: Hate and Violence

At a recent Eradicate Hate Global Summit, Governor Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania spoke about his experience as a target of hate and violence. Take a listen to an inspiring speech:

Gun violence disrupts our physical safety. Anger and hate fuel aggressive actions, including gun violence. The rigid betrothal of Second Amendment Rights, distorted by a lens of blind allegiance to individualism, lacks discernment and fosters an environment in which too many people have access to firearms which they do not need.

Sure, I just sparked an outrage. Not that my readership of one care. But, if they do, I challenge them to consider how nonsensical it is to avoid research on gun violence; to avoid sound legislation on access to firearms; and to avoid developing public health policies related to firearms. And I do not mean mandating firearm instruction in schools starting in kindergarten as at least one state has entertained.

Let’s consider decreasing the number of guns available because right now, in the USA, there are more guns than there are people.

Let’s consider teaching social intelligence and emotional intelligence and mindfulness skills in all schools. Our children are better armed for life with the power of the gab and the ability to regulate their emotions than they are when given a gun.

And, let’s make hate wrong again.

Call to Action: Wellbeing and Public Health Policy

Keep your eye on the prize of wellbeing. Remember, wellbeing is a process not an endpoint. You can take steps towards your wellbeing and the wellbeing of our nation. Start by learning about public health policy initiatives in your community.

Contact the office of the governor of your state. Ask about state public health policy.

Call your elected officials and demand that they support funding for the National Institutes of Health, the National Institutes of Mental Health, the Centers for Disease Control, and many other federal agencies which engage in and support research and development of public health policies to support our individual and our collective wellbeing. Tell your elected officials that access to healthcare, food security, and housing are cornerstones for wellbeing of your community and that cutting funding to those areas as planned in the OBBBA contradicts sound public health policy.

US Capitol Switchboard 202.224.3121

Above all, do not hate anyone. Connect with reverence for our collective wellbeing. Our humanity is something we all share; we are all human beings. We do not have to agree; we have to get along. We are in this world together. Let’s make our time on earth as pleasant as possible, for everyone. We are all human beings.

Be kind. Be safe. Be compassionate. Be wise.

A little music to light our way in life:

Cast of Rent performing ‘Seasons of Love’, 2008

Disclaimer: This post is not meant to substitute for a consultation with your mental health care professional team.

If you are thinking of hurting yourself or of hurting someone else, please CALL 9-1-1; CALL 9-8-8; or GO TO the nearest emergency room.

Selected References:

Busette, C., Gilbert, K.L. (January 22, 2024). Policy approaches for well-being in the US. Brookings Institution. Accessed online on September 18, 2025, at https://www.brookings.edu/articles/policy-approaches-for-well-being-in-the-us/

Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (July 22, 2025). What’s In the One Big Beautiful Bill Act? Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. Accessed online on September 14, 2025, at https://www.crfb.org/blogs/whats-one-big-beautiful-bill-act

Culli, L. (March 14, 2025). New Insights into Connection Between Housing Quality and Population Health. John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Department of Health Policy and Management. Accessed online on September 12, 2025, at https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2025/new-insights-into-connection-between-housing-quality-and-population-health

Ghilarducci, T. (March 27, 2024). Why Bernie Sanders Is Right About America’s Retirement Crisis. Forbes. Accessed online on September 14, 2025, at https://www.forbes.com/sites/teresaghilarducci/2024/03/27/why-bernie-sanders-is-right-about-americas-retirement-crisis/

Greenberg, M.T. (March 6, 2023). Evidence for Social and Emotional Learning in Schools. Learning Policy Institute. Accessed online on September 20, 2025, at https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/product/evidence-social-emotional-learning-schools-brief

Habitat for Humanity (September 2025). Women who upgrade housing and improve health in Argentina. Habitat for Humanity. Accessed online on September 14, 2025, at https://www.habitat.org/our-work/impact/habitat-magazine/2025/09/women-housing-health-argentina

Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University (2025). 2025 The State of the Nation’s Housing. President and Fellows of Harvard College. Accessed online on September 14, 2025, at https://www.jchs.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/reports/files/Harvard_JCHS_The_State_of_the_Nations_Housing_2025.pdf

Lehman, D. (October 7, 2024). The Remarkable Success of Childhood Vaccination in the U.S. NEJM Journal Watch. Accessed online on September 6, 2025, at https://www.jwatch.org/na57812/2024/10/07/remarkable-success-childhood-vaccination-us

Marchant, J. (July/August 2024). A Buried Ancient Egyptian Port Reveals Connections Between Distant Civilizations. Smithsonian Magazine. Accessed online on September 22, 2024, at https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/hidden-ancient-egyptian-port-reveals-180984485/

Rao, P. (March 4, 2025). A Visual Breakdown of Who Owns America’s Wealth. Visual Capitalist. Accessed online on August 31, 2025, at https://www.visualcapitalist.com/a-visual-breakdown-of-who-owns-americas-wealth/

Shmerling, R.H. (September 3, 2025). Measles in Making a Comeback: Can We Stop It? Harvard Health Publishing Harvard Medical School. Accessed online on September 6, 2025, at https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/measles-is-making-a-comeback-can-we-stop-it-202503063091

UN Innovation Network. June 15, 2023. The Neuroscience of Peace and Conflict. Accessed online on March 9, 2025, at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxJPHLbipNM

University Health Services University of Wisconsin-Madison. (November 21, 2019). Healthy democracy: How voting impacts well-being. University Health Services University of Wisconsin-Madison. Accessed online on September 18, 2025, at https://www.uhs.wisc.edu/voting-and-health/

World Health Organization (2025). History of Vaccination. World Health Organization Newsroom Spotlight. Accessed online on September 6, 2025, at https://www.who.int/news-room/spotlight/history-of-vaccination

Zaki, J. (May 14, 2020). Catastrophe Compassion: Understanding and Extending Prosociality Under Crisis. Trends Cogn. Sci, 24(8): 587-589. Accessed online on November 17, 2024, at https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7221394/#:~:text=Extending%20Catastrophe%20Compassion&text=Floods%2C%20bombings%2C%20and%20earthquakes%20are,boundaries%20that%20typically%20separate%20people.

Zhao, N. (March 31, 2025). Affordability Pyramid Shows 94 Million Households Cannot Buy a $400 000 Home. National Association of Home Builders Eye on Housing. Accessed online on September 14, 2025, at https://eyeonhousing.org/2025/03/affordability-pyramid-shows-94-million-households-cannot-buy-a-400000-home/#:~:text=In%202025%2C%20about%2052.87%20million,a%20shortage%20of%20affordable%20housing.

Nota Bene:

USA Government websites are being purged by the current Trump Administration to align the website content with the regime’s political agenda. Please note that any government website cited in this and other posts on this website may no longer contain evidence based or historically correct information. Thus, I am trying to avoid including any references or resources which derive from a USA government website. This is not bias; I take this action in an effort to maintain a factually sound content in my posts.