The work of each community-led partnership addresses one or more of five social determinants of health. These vital conditions are critical in preventing chronic disease: 1) a healthy built environment, 2) connections between communities and clinics, 3) access to nutritious, affordable food, 4) social connectedness, and 5) tobacco-free space.
A Healthy Built Environment
The resident-led Avondale Children Thrive Collaborative in Ohio advances health equity and increases positive health outcomes among families and children by improving access to community resources, services, and amenities, as well as educating the community about healthy habits.
Watch how Live Well Allegheny is addressing racial health inequities in its Black communities by creating a diverse coalition of more than 25 community partners working together to build connections between the community and clinical service providers, provide access to resources, and improve conditions to promote physical activity.
West Louisville Outdoor Recreation Initiative in West Louisville, Kentucky improves the health and wellbeing of children and families by promoting nature justice and equitable access to nature through outdoor educational and recreational programming, as well as improving recreational infrastructure in historically underserved parks.
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Connections Between Communities and Clinics
It’s all about relationships: Access Health Stark County in Canton, Ohio has built a program that provides access to a coordinated system of healthcare and community resources, all while emphasizing building relationships among community members and providers.
Community Connection advances health equity in Berks County, Pennsylvania by promoting community health and creating a bridge between clinical care and community services that focuses on removing barriers to care.
Through a coordinated system of care, Community Resource Hubs improves the health of its community members with chronic health conditions and social needs by inverting the burden of service navigation from clients to the system and connecting them to social service agencies.
Access to Nutritious, Affordable Food
Hippocrates gave voice to “food as medicine” in 400 BC, and today, the movement continues to grow dramatically. In San Francisco, California, the Food as Medicine Collaborative supports food programming at clinics, promotes culture and systems changes to embrace food security as a health issue, and advocates for policy change to ensure health insurance covers food as a medical benefit.
Healthy Here Coalition improves the health of Hispanic, Latinx, and Native American communities in Albuquerque, New Mexico by changing systems and environments to make it easier to access healthy foods, be physically active, and manage chronic disease.
Real Foods Collective, a community food social enterprise supported by Proviso Partners for Health, advances health equity by addressing food and nutrition security in Maywood, Illinois. Real Foods Collective increases access to free and low-cost healthy, fresh, and culturally relevant foods while partnering with community members to support a local, sustainable food system.
Social Connectedness
Health equity for the South Asian community in New York City is realized in the DREAM Initiative, which focuses diabetes prevention and management through a Community Health Worker intervention program. Partnering with community-based organizations, this initiative provides culturally responsive health interventions and connects community members to resources.
Maryland Living Well Center of Excellence improves quality of life and healthcare outcomes for the community by partnering with healthcare systems and community organizations to provide an inclusive continuum of care to address social determinants of health and connect community members to needed resources.
Tobacco-Free Spaces
Lancaster County Health and Wellness Commission in South Carolina improves the health of the most underserved and under-resourced communities by bringing together diverse stakeholders to establish equitable policies and programs that ensure all residents can live healthier lives.
The REACH Healthy Work Environment coalition is working to achieve health equity and eliminate chronic diseases within the Vietnamese community in Orange County, California by creating a continuum of care that bridges clinical care and community resources, and by improving access to smoke-free spaces by advocating for smoke-free policies.
The Southeastern PA Tobacco Control Project is actively working to reduce the burden of disease caused by tobacco and nicotine use by eliminating health disparities and improving the health and wellbeing of people who live, work, and socialize in Southeastern Pennsylvania.
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