""""""""CREATING COMMUNITY HEALTH EQUITY REPORTS TO INFORM POLICY AND PRACTICE"""""""" A growing volume of research points to the importance of place - where people live, work, study, and play - for health. As yet, however, this research has not informed policy and practice on a wide scale to improve population health and reduce health inequities. The Health Policy Institute (HPI) of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies seeks funding to prepare and disseminate a series of locally- tailored Community Health Equity reports that will assess population health inequities and social and economic conditions in each of the 24 communities that are part of HPI's PLACE MATTERS initiative. This initiative seeks to build the capacity of local leaders to identify and address social determinants of health in their communities. PLACE MATTERS is a national learning laboratory that provides opportunities for PLACE MATTERS team members to learn about strategies to address social determinants of health through research, community capacity-building, and policy engagement. Using a community-based participatory research model, PLACE MATTERS teams are identifying priority health concerns of low-income communities and communities of color (e.g., infant mortality, childhood obesity, youth violence), and are developing interventions that work """"""""upstream"""""""" to address underlying social and economic conditions that shape these health outcomes. The development and dissemination of locally-tailored Community Health Equity reports will help PLACE MATTERS teams to: Identify and assemble indicators of health status and community conditions in their target geographic areas; Identify potential relationships between social and economic conditions and community health status, to inform policy within the target communities and to deepen understanding of the interconnections between the local social environment and health disparities; Engage target audiences, such as policymakers, community leaders, elected officials, faith leaders, the news media, civic leaders, and others to help mitigate adverse conditions;and, Provide an evidence-based """"""""dashboard"""""""" for identifying pockets of extreme distress and for tracking progress/setbacks over time in addressing health disparities and socioeconomic wellbeing within the community. It is expected that this research will lead to long-term improvements in the health of low-income communities and communities of color by highlighting the important role of social determinants in shaping health status and health inequities, by contributing to local policy solutions, and by informing national activity to address social determinants of health. While important examples of community health equity reports exist, these reports have been limited to a handful of geographic areas and have not been guided by an overarching framework from a national initiative such as PLACE MATTERS. PLACE MATTERS teams are located in communities across the United States (for specific locations, please see the map below). They are focused on addressing the spatial distribution of health risks and resources, which align with patterns of residential segregation in ways that increase risks for poor health outcomes in low-income communities and communities of color. We will work with PLACE MATTERS teams to disseminate the reports widely with local stakeholders and target audiences, as well as with national audiences, to illustrate the relationships between health and place and expand the national conversation regarding health equity. The proposed research is relevant to public health because it will explore the relationship between the health status of people and the social and economic conditions of the communities in which they live. We expect this research to foster long-term improvements in the health of low-income communities and communities of color by highlighting the important role of social and economic conditions in shaping health status and health inequities, by catalyzing local policy solutions, and by informing national activity to address social determinants of health.
The proposed research is relevant to public health because it will explore the relationship between the health status of people and the social and economic conditions of the communities in which they live. We expect this research to foster long-term improvements in the health of low-income communities and communities of color by highlighting the important role of social and economic conditions in shaping health status and health inequities, by catalyzing local policy solutions, and by informing national activity to address social determinants of health.
