The National Civic League has released the first of two special issues of its flagship publication, National Civic Review, to celebrate 25 years of the Healthy Communities Movement that has emerged in cities and states across the country. This movement has worked to change the places where people live, learn, work and play in ways that promote healthier eating, increase physical activity, encourage active transportation and accelerate economic equality. In the process, the movement has reshaped the way we think about health and wellness,
The special editions, sponsored by Kaiser Permanente, include articles written about and by philanthropic leaders of the Convergence Partnership whose innovative collaborative efforts have helped catalyze the Healthy Communities movement.
- Prevention Institute's Larry Cohen and PolicyLink's Judith Bell collaborated to write "Convergence Partnership: How a Group of Philanthropists Broke the Mold and Unlocked the Power of Collaboration." Judith and Larry describe the innovative work of the Convergence Partnership, a national collaborative of funders that aims to strengthen and accelerate efforts among practitioners, policymakers, funders, and advocates to create environments that support healthy people living in healthy places.
- In an introductory essay, Tyler Norris, guest editor of the special issues and vice president of Total Health Partnerships at Kaiser Permanente, outlines some of the goals and accomplishments of the 25-year history of the Healthy Communities Movement and likens the efforts in cities and towns across the country to "a healthy community immune response" to the serious health challenges that plague our nation. Watch an interview with Norris here.
- Marion B. Standish and Robert K. Ross, leaders of the California Endowment, report on the foundation's efforts to work across sectors, build coalitions and support efforts "to change the odds for those living in communities without the essential for health."
- David D. Fukuzawa, program director for health at Kresge Foundation, outlines the foundation's efforts to reduce health disparities by supporting efforts to create a "Community-Centered Health System" that focuses on improving population health by moving upstream to identify and address health determinants at the community level.
We encourage you check out the entire issue, which is available online. The National Civic Review's co-publisher, Jossey-Bass, Wiley, is providing free access to the contents. Click here to see the full table of contents and access individual articles.
The second special issue will be released in April and will feature more articles from Prevention Institute staff members.
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Healthy People, Healthy Places
The Convergence Partnership was founded on the belief that health and place are inextricably linked. Learn more about the Partnership and its innovative work to fund collaborative efforts to improve health and wellness from the ground up.
Collaboration Multiplier
Collaboration Multiplier offers multi-disciplinary coalitions a free, interactive framework for evaluating each partner's skills. It helps them more effectively target their individual and joint needs and apply their skill sets, thereby multiplying collective accomplishments. See more.
Read Community Centered Health Homes
In this paper, we outline an approach that community health centers can take to integrate community prevention into the delivery of services.