Society for Public Health Education (SOPHE)

In September 2016, SOPHE published a document that outlines its policy advocacy as an organization and for its members to implement in their activism. It associates poverty and socioeconomic issues with poor health and argues that welfare programs are needed to combat those issues in the name of effective health policy. It also taps intersectionality advocates to determine which demographic groups should be given priority access to welfare programs. ²

Background

Founded in 1950, the Society for Public Health Education is a 501(c)(3) organization that teaches professionals in public health education how to advocate for far-left health care policy. It is a membership-based on organization, and much of its work is made available exclusively to its members. ¹

SOPHE offers its membership to public health and other professionals responsible for promoting health practices, including K-12 school health workers, health care workers, and others involved in health advocacy. The membership offers access to its advocacy training and encourages implementing far-left policy advocacy by its members. ¹ SOPHE advocates for policy that implements equity goals, focusing on differences between racial and socioeconomic groups and groups within the LGBT community. ³

Advocacy

The Society for Public Health Education hosts conferences and forums for its members where health policy is discussed, and it is offered for those in health education to be taught how to implement SOPHE’s advocacy agenda in their work. Promotional material for SOPHE’s October 2022 conference discussed how left-of-center equity goals can be implemented in health policy to address race and gender issues as well as other far-left policy. ⁴

In addition to health policy advocacy, SOPHE advocates for environmentalist policy as it claims humans are responsible for climate change and correspondingly puts people’s health at risk. It advocates and trains its members to advocate for policy that would restrict the use of conventional energy, subsidize the use of weather-dependent energy, and teaches that not all officials are educated on climate change, so it teaches them to confront officials who do not support environmentalism. ⁵

Resolution to Promote Health Equity

SOPHE published a document in September 2016 titled, “Resolution to Promote Health Equity.” It uses equity goals to advocate for far-left policy as it argues the negative correlation between “lower socio-economic status, discrimination, lower education levels, housing issues, and trauma” with higher rates of poor health, disease, and other health complications justifies welfare programs as health policy. Additionally, it argues that there are existing policies and legislation that cause or exacerbate the amount of people living in lower socioeconomic statuses and in poor environmental conditions. It argues that such populations suffer oppression through discrimination, particularly ethnic minorities and LGBT people. ²

Due to SOPHE’s ideological basis in identity politics, its resolution advocates for Congress to institute “Health-in-All” policies to address possible social and environmental factors for discrepancies in health outcomes among different communities. It also advocates that these programs would “prioritize” government spending and programs for different communities based on who it believes need them the most. These policies would increase government funding for welfare and other social programs under the guise of effective public health policy. ²

Publications

The Society for Public Health Education has a variety of print and digital publications, most of which are exclusive to its members, but some are available for free. It operates a quarterly newsletter that publishes updates on SOPHE’s programs, press releases, and conferences. It also sells digital handbooks on teaching in health education and left-of-center health policy advocacy. ⁶

SOPHE publishes three journals that is available exclusively to SOPHE members. Its journals include Health Education & Behavior, which discusses behavioral and social factors of health; Health Promotion Practice, a journal on promoting and educating people on health practices; and Pedagogy in Health Promotion: The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, which focuses on teaching strategies for implementing health policy advocacy. ⁷

Funding

In 2019, the Society for Public Health Education reported receiving $1.5 million in contributions and $627,000 in program revenue out of $2.7 million in total revenue. ⁸ It also reported spending $22,000 in grants and $1.2 million in salaries out of $2.5 million in total expenses. ⁹