Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital and the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) Department of Pediatrics strive to achieve a healthier life for all children. Efforts contained within the hospital, clinics and community programs alone are not sufficient to achieve sustainable community change to meet this goal.
Le Bonheur and UTHSC have the influence, ability and resources to speak for children. We must speak up in a constructive, non-partisan manner to advocate for system change and public policy to support child well-being. Our place in academic medicine also provides us the opportunity, knowledge and expertise to produce research related to these social issues and outcomes to demonstrate the effectiveness of our interventions.
Le Bonheur has established the Le Bonheur Child Health Advocacy Institute to promote an organized, purposeful approach to influence policy and legislative change. Throughout Le Bonheur’s 70-year history, we have always advocated on behalf of children’s issues. We believe we can be more effective in making lasting changes for improvement by establishing a more purposeful, deliberate approach.
Advocacy Philosophy
Le Bonheur is dedicated to doing what’s right for kids. This necessitates collaborating with others to be an effective voice for children. Today’s children and families have so many pressing needs that it is important to focus on the issues where we, as the region’s only comprehensive children’s hospital, can be most influential and effective, while ensuring that we collaborate with a robust group of community partners to work together on these difficult issues impacting children.
The Le Bonheur Child Health Advocacy Institute will define and understand issues affecting our children. To better clarify where Le Bonheur and other community partners are already involved and to define the gaps, we sorted the issues into three tiers. Le Bonheur has focus areas in all three tiers.
Tier 1: Immediate Health and Care
We are committed to direct, immediate child safety, child health, pediatric clinical service, clinical education or child health care funding issues. Some examples include injury prevention, community violence, school health and Medicaid funding.
Tier 2: Health-Related
We are committed to secondary, long-term child health and safety issues including healthy and stable housing, air quality, food accessibility and other social determinants of health.
Tier 3: Well-Being
We are committed to the overall well-being, quality of life and future opportunities for children. Examples include childcare access, education/literacy and workforce development.
Advocacy Priority Focus Areas
In March 2021 the Le Bonheur Advocacy Advisory Council held its first meeting to understand and discuss
areas in which Le Bonheur was currently working within the advocacy and community outreach space.
The Council determined that the following are priority areas for Le Bonheur’s advocacy efforts.
- Injury prevention/safety
- Access
- School Health
- ACE Prevention and Reduction
- Mental health
- Healthy housing
