In this first phase, the goal is to get clear on the issue you want to explore, identify the laws and data that matter, and create a clear plan for how to research and analyze the data. This section of the crosswalk pairs the technical steps of legal epi planning with reflection questions to help you describe how communities most impacted will be engaged from the start in shaping the focus and approach of your project.
Legal Epidemiology
Your Phase 1 Objectives:
- Get the full picture behind your issue by looking at current and historical legal, health, and outcomes data.
- Decide which places (jurisdictions) and levels of government you’ll focus on and how you’ll compare them.
Find Relevant Laws and Policies
Federal Sources
- Congress.gov
- U.S. code
- Federal Register
State Sources
- State legislative websites
- State health department rules (or other state agencies)
Local Sources
- Municipal codes
- County regulations
- Local health department rules (or other local agencies)
Legal Databases
- LexisNexis
- Westlaw
- Fastcase
- HeinOnline
- Cornell Legal Information Institute
Legislative Databases
- GocTrack
- OpenStates
- LegisScan
- BillTrack50
- Quorum
Community-informed Sources
- Legal aid groups
- Legal clinics
- Grassroots organizations
- Advocacy groups
Other Sources
- Google Scholar
- PubMed
- Legal research organizations (Public Health Law Program, ChangeLab Solutions, Public Health Law Center, Center for Public Health Law Research, Network for Public Health Law)
- Think Tanks
- Clarify the type of law you want to study more closely.
- Draft a clear research question that connects the law or policy to the outcomes you care about.
Sample Office of Minority Health Funded Demonstration Sites Research Questions:
Awardee | Research Question |
|---|---|
Center for Health Innovation | How do drinking water notification policies (for arsenic and uranium contamination) perpetuate inequities? |
First Candle, Inc. | What laws and policies support safe sleep for infants or address Sudden Unexpected Infant Death? |
UC San Diego | What policies and strategies support urban agriculture in San Diego County? |
- Identify the key features of the law that can be observed and measured. For example: definitions, enforcement mechanisms, funding, and duties and responsibilities.
- Develop a coding scheme, a set of simple question-and-answer prompts, to track those features.
- Choose whether you will compare laws at one point in time (legal mapping) or track how they change over time (policy surveillance).
- Write a short policy memo summarizing your focus and plan. This helps to capture and memorialize your process.
*See examples of many of the steps above in the resources section
Community Power Building
For each step in Phase 1, how can you:
Act Collectively
- Key Question: How are we fostering a shared purpose for the work?
- Who is engaged, and who is missing, in setting agendas, defining evidence, and shaping research design?
- How do we ensure we are authentically seeking community perspectives, and listening and learning deeply?
Shift Narratives
- Key Question: What narratives do historic and existing laws uphold, and how might they be shifted to help us better understand why such laws prevent some communities from flourishing?
- What narratives inform the evidence we prioritize, the laws and policies we focus on, our analysis of what keeps communities from being healthy, and our research question?
- Who needs to be engaged to deepen our analysis?
Engage Communities Authentically
- Key Question: Who is most impacted by the adverse outcomes you are trying to address and how can we shift power to center those most affected?
- Who holds influence (institutional or community) and how can we align with it?
- Whose influence and interest do we want to build?
Cultivate relationships
- Key Question: How are we engaging partners and building trust with those most affected by outcomes of focus?
- How do we ensure partnerships are relational and not transactional?
What practices can help sustain these relationships over time?
