Description
Contemporary approaches to community health improvement involve partnerships working together to address shared community health, education, housing, and other needs. We evaluated 10 community health improvement processes varying in geography and population to understand the extent of shared community health improvement efforts. Using a variety of methods, we identified these sites from approximately 125 across the nation.
The community health improvement processes we examined are improving alignment of partner efforts and resources within their communities. Alignment is facilitated by developing infrastructures that meet the context, needs, and will of the partners. CHI processes reviewed vary in the extent to which assessment, prioritization, and implementation efforts are shared. Through a variety of structures, these collaboratives create, support, and participate in community engagement efforts. Finally, these collaboratives are demonstrating promise to improve community and population health through implementing strategies that address social determinants of health to reduce health disparities and by implementing policy, systems, and environmental strategies that impact the health of the whole community.
