The purpose of this assignment is to move your individual health policy analysis into action. You will write a succinct one-page action letter to your legislator that describes the issue you identified in your policy brief (Paper #1) and include a one-page infographic or fact-sheet that draws attention to the issue.
Use “How to Write a Letter or Email” (https://www.apaservices.org/advocacy/get-involved/guide) Links to an external site.from the APA (2017) to help guide your letter writing. Examples of letters and fact sheets can also be found below.
For your letter:
Be sure to include key points of your policy analysis and change needed to address the issue.
You will need to write a professional letter, including using the correct name and title of your legislator as well as their correct address. NOTE: if your policy brief was specific to a certain community or state or county, you need to know who you will write to; it may be a state representative or a county representative. If your policy was specific to an organization (School district or state education department or health system) you will need to find the correct person within that organization, as well as their correct address.
Be courteous, professional, include data and make your point, giving a reason for your request; why this is important to you.
Tell a story, but be brief. You only have 1 page.
APA references do not need to be included in a letter to the editor, but be sure if you are including data in your letter, you cite where it came from. (example: “In 2017, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] found suicide was the 2nd leading cause of death in 10-24 year-olds”).
Example: advocacy_101_sample_letter_to_legislator.pdfDownload Example: advocacy_101_sample_letter_to_legislator.pdf
For your one-page infographic/fact sheet:
Your infographic/fact sheet is also based on the information from your policy brief. This document should provide talking points and key pieces of evidence that your legislator could use to support the issue discussed in your letter. Think of this as notes that could be used when discussing the issue or used in a debate. Fact sheets should be concise, easy to read and engage the reader (attractive to the eye).
An infographic or fact sheet is meant to draw attention to the issue you are addressing using pictures, data, graphs, statistics, etc. It should be eye-catching using as few words as possible to get your point across. Bullet points work well here. Your infographic should be one-sided, and is in addition to your letter. The example below from WELL Healthy Kids has various different infographics that were used at different times during the campaign, as well as the letter that was sent to the NYS Gov. and members of the legislature.
Example of Letter and Infographic from WELL Download WELLHealthy Kids
Example of multiple infographics from NYSANALinks to an external site.
Rubric for Letter/Infographic to Legislator: Rubric for Letter and Infographic to Legislator.pdf
I have attacted my paper below. Please make sure the letter aligns with the paper attached.
