El Presidente!

Dr. Dan Perales took office as the new president for SOPHE at this year's annual conference!  Dr. Perales offered an eloquent speech that left all in attendance motivated and somewhat emotionally charged to continue the good work that we do in public health. San José State had about 40 members in attendance, all of whom cheered and celebrated our very own Dr. Perales as he stood to the podium to accept his position. As the new president for SOPHE, Dr. Perales will be responsible for helping the organization navigate upcoming opportunities and challenges. We look forward to supporting Dr. Perales' agenda and priorities during the upcoming year. Congratulations!

SOPHE 2010

The 60th Annual SOPHE conference ended with a bang. Please visit for more updates on SOPHE happenings and highlights as Harbinger contributors write them.

Policy Theory Applied to Public Health?

April Allgrove & Claudia Mendivil
Staff Contributors

The Annual SOPHE meeting held a session on Health Education and Promotion Theory, which included a presentation by Tyler Watson, MPH, CHES, titled, "How policy theory can improve public health advocacy." Mr. Watson discussed the significant contributions policies have made to public health, and in particular focused on three common policy theories for understanding and implementing policy; Three Streams Theory, Punctuated Equilibrium Theory, and the Advocacy Coalition Framework. He explained that while professionals in public health have mastered theories of behavior, they are much less versed with how policy theories can be applied to public health to achieve positive health outcomes in populations. He urged us to challenge ourselves not only to look at policy as an effective method for improving population health, but also, as suggested by the Advocacy Coalition Framework, to work with those groups who share similar policy interests but might sit on the opposite aisle of us, as this may be what allows us to make some of the greatest advances in public health. Mr. Watson made an excellent case for the necessity of the inclusion of policy theory into the field and curriculum of public health, and left most students who were present wanting more.

Support SJSU Students, Faculty, and Alumni at SOPHE and APHA

The SOPHE and APHA annual meetings are just around the corner! Here's a schedule of student, faculty, and alumni presentations at SOPHE and APHA. Please support the SJSU MPH family by attending these sessions. We're looking forward to seeing you in Denver!

View the presentation schedule here.