Applying Health in All Policies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison

The University of Wisconsin-Madison’s (UW-Madison) response to the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrates how prioritizing health in campus policies is necessary to achieve better health, educational, and workforce outcomes. COVID-19 cases increased on campus as students attended in-person classes at the beginning of the 2020-21 academic year, though dampened as the university ramped up protective measures. Harm may have been prevented had proactive and analytical approaches to policy making, which are foundational to a Health in All Policies (HiAP) approach, been implemented sooner. Specifically, comprehensive and rapid Health Impact Assessments could enhance university leadership’s ability to mitigate the negative effects of existing and future policies. Here, we recognize the COVID-19 pandemic as a justifiable catalyst for implementing a HiAP approach in UW-Madison policymaking. We recommend that the university establish a HiAP subcommittee within the Division of Diversity, Equity & Educational Achievement. This action standardizes the use of tools essential to HiAP across campus while limiting the demand on existing university committees and other administrative offices.