National Public Health Week

In 2025, National Public Health Week (NPHW) celebrates 30 years of enhancing community well-being, advancing health equity, and advocating for policies that promote and protect public health. Organized by the American Public Health Association, NPHW focuses its efforts to educate the public, policymakers, and practitioners on a yearly theme. This year’s theme, It Starts Here, addresses five key priority areas.

Your Health Is Our Mission

What is public health? Public health is about ensuring that you, your family, your friends, and everyone in your community have the opportunity to thrive. Public health affects how we all live, work, and play, and it prioritizes health at every level: individual citizens, neighborhoods, cities and states, and the nation.

Here are steps to take at each level:

Get to know your neighbors. Building strong connections with the people around you strengthens your community’s well-being.

Make healthy food accessible. Farmers markets and community-supported agriculture programs, especially in underserved areas, increase access to affordable healthy food.

Prepare for emergencies. Provide residents with resources, education, and training so they can stay safe and protect their families during emergencies, such as natural disasters, disease outbreaks, and other crises.

Build a more inclusive public health system. A fair and inclusive public requires the participation of all, including healthcare providers, faith-based groups, schools, and more.

Championing Resilience for Health

Rising temperatures, poor air quality, and extreme weather events are just a few ways in which climate change affects both physical and mental health. By taking bold and equitable action, however, we can lessen the health effects of climate change and build stronger communities.

Below are steps to take at each level:

Stay aware and prepared. Longer allergy seasons and extreme heat are becoming more common. Know when to limit outdoor activities to protect your health.

Support local climate education. Community workshops, school programs, or public talks are all great ways to educate residents on climate issues and help build community support for solutions and initiatives.

Invest in disaster preparedness. City and state emergency management programs should work with public health and communities to prepare, respond, and recover effectively from climate-related disasters.

Increase access to affordable and energy-efficient housing. Federal programs should focus on improving energy efficiency in affordable housing and fostering partnerships with community organizations to implement these solutions.

Optimizing Health for All

Health equity is important because it means that everyone has access to the resources and opportunities needed to achieve their full health potential, regardless of socioeconomic, racial, geographic, or disability-related disparities. Promoting health equity fosters healthier populations, reduces healthcare costs, and builds more resilient societies.

Some steps to take at each level include these:

Engage in conversation. Having informal conversations about equity with family, friends, or coworkers can spark awareness and ignite a call to action.

Involve communities. Community members play an important role in identifying local health needs, strengths, and the resources needed to improve health.

Adopt a “Health in All Policies” Approach. This involves access to healthy foods, safe housing, reliable transportation, quality education, equitable employment, safe green spaces, and opportunities for economic development.

Address racism and racial implicit bias. Health agencies at all levels—local, state, and national—must acknowledge and address the racially discriminatory policies that have created and continue to enable health inequities.

Amplifying Voices for Public Health

We’ve all used our voices to influence change in our own ways—from sharing our opinions to advocating for our children to educating someone about our passions. Public health advocacy is no different: It’s about using your voice to create a healthier world for everyone.

Here are some steps to take at each level:

Join existing grassroots efforts. You can work with others to amplify community voices, initiate changes, and confront health problems in your area.

Celebrate community advocates. Members of your community are experts in their own experiences. This approach builds trust and ensures solutions that work for everyone.

Partner with power-building organizations. These groups understand how power affects people’s health and work to fix unfair systems.

Ask Congress to make public health a top priority. Elected officials should pass legislation that safeguards public health funding, infrastructure, and authority.

Strengthening the Public Health Workforce

A strong and resilient public health workforce that includes people from all backgrounds is key to keeping communities healthy and addressing the nation’s most urgent health challenges.

Below are steps to take at each level:

Encourage a younger generation through mentorship. Support job-shadowing and mentorship programs in schools and the community where students can learn about the impact of public health work.

Recognize public health workers. Organize events to celebrate public health workers and highlight their contributions. Share their stories and thank them via social media, newsletters, or even the local news.

Build leadership pathways. Work with local higher education programs to develop initiatives like internship programs and targeted recruitment to connect students with public health careers.

Promote innovation. We can strengthen the public health workforce and enhance its ability to serve by utilizing technological tools like automated workflows, electronic records, and data management platforms, which reduce the burden of paperwork and routine processes.

It Doesn’t End Here

Public health affects us all, and we all have the power to make a positive impact on it. To learn more about this year’s key priority areas and the steps you can take to advance public health, visit National Public Health Week. There, you will also find fact sheets from previous years, tips and tools for getting involved, book suggestions, and many other resources.