LibGuides: Public Health Law: Legal Epidemiology

Legal epidemiology is the scientific study and deployment of law as a factor in the cause, distribution, and prevention of disease and injury in a population.

Legal epidemiology encompasses legal etiology, legal prevention and control, and policy surveillance theory and methods to

Measure the nature and distribution of laws across jurisdictions and over time.
Evaluate the implementation and the impact of legal interventions on public health, and the health effects of non-health laws.
Analyze the implementation and impact of the laws defining health department powers and duties.
Enable and support the rapid diffusion of healthier laws and policies.

Who Uses Legal Epidemiology?

Legal epidemiology is deeply rooted in a transdisciplinary approach to public health law - calling for true integration of disciplines to collaborate in developing and applying legal epidemiology theory, methods, and conceptual tools. The consumers of legal epidemiology are just as a diverse as the practitioners, and include lawyers, researchers, epidemiologists, social scientists, policymakers, public health practitioners, advocates, the media, and the public.

Online Resources

Seven Things You Should Know About Legal Epidemiology
This brief article provides seven take-away points about legal epidemiology.
Public Health Law Academy: Legal Epidemiology
Part of ChangeLab Solution and CDC Public Health Law Program’s in-depth series on the scientific study of how laws affect public health, this site includes the following training modules: 1) Introduction to Legal Epidemiology; 2) Introduction of Legal Mapping; and 3) Advanced Legal Epidemiology Methods.
Center for Public Health Law Research
Based at the Temple University Beasley School of Law, the Center for Public Health Law Research supports the widespread adoption of scientific tools and methods for mapping and evaluating the impact of law on health. CPHLR offers in person and virtual introductory and advanced trainings, the Public Health Law Research textbook on best practices in research methods, database software for collection and coding of laws, and an evidence library.
LawAtlas Learning Library
LawAtlas.org is the flagship policy surveillance website of the Center for Public Health Law Research. The site hosts a comprehensive Learning Library that teaches policy surveillance research methods developed by CPHLR. The Library contains series of self-guided training modules, and details about monthly training webinars, and the Summer Institute hosted annually in June.
Public Health Law Research Graduate Certificate
Housed jointly in Temple University’s College of Public Health and the Beasley School of Law, this transdisciplinary graduate certificate provides fundamental training in public health law and legal epidemiology research methods. The program is comprised of 12-credits, four-courses and can be completed on a part-time basis through a combination of in person and online classes.
The Legal Epidemiology Competency Model
Competencies are the knowledge and skills that workers need to perform their work well. The goal of this competency model is to offer guidelines for the minimum competencies in legal epidemiology, including research and translation knowledge and skills required of public health practitioners, lawyers, and policy experts working in state, tribal, local, or territorial health departments.
Journal of Public Health Management and Practice: Advancing Legal Epidemiology
The CDC’s Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention, in collaboration with Temple University’s Center for Public Health Law Research (CPHLR), co-sponsored this special journal supplement, with the goal of informing the broader public health practice community about the field, its inherent principles, and its application to study and evaluate policies related to chronic disease.

Attribution

Content for this page on Legal Epidemiology was graciously provided by the Center for Public Health Law Research at Temple University and the Law Section of the American Public Health Association.

Content for the graphics on this page were developed through a collaboration between the Center for Public Health Law Research at Temple University, ChangeLab Solutions, and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, using funding from the CDC under Cooperative Agreement Number NU38OT000141. The views expressed in written materials or publications and by the speakers and moderators do not necessarily reflect the official policies of the Department of Health and Human Services, nor does the mention of trade names, commercial practices, or organizations imply endorsement by the US Government.