Four years after its landmark recommendations on ways to improve health for all Americans, the RWJF Commission to Build a Healthier America has reconvened with renewed focus on two key areas: early childhood and healthy communities.
A new report for the Commission to Build a Healthier America highlights examples of health and community development organizations working together and some key ingredients in effective collaborative efforts to improve community health.
The Social Capital Markets Conference is an event to increase the flow of capital toward social good. SOCAP 2013 featured a first-ever health track and pre-conference meeting, co-sponsored by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco and RWJF, which explored innovation and investment opportunities to improve health.
For a growing number of communities, achieving better health involves a combination of changes such as new investments in pre-schools, farmers’ markets, quality affordable housing, and safe places to exercise and play. Learn more about what a healthy community can look like, and how government, business, education, and other sectors are working together to create programs and policies to help people lead healthier lives.
The Roadmaps to Health Prize honors communities where leaders across disciplines are taking bold steps to address the multiple factors that influence health.
Learn about the first six winners
Our annual report with the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute continues to serve as a catalyst for business, government and community leaders to work together to improve health.
Read more
In a recent book, leaders in policy, finance, education and other fields stress the need for cross-sector collaboration and new approaches to build healthier communities.
Dr. Douglas Jutte says unmet social needs—access to healthy food, transportation and housing—affect the health of Americans.
Brian Gallagher reflects on how United Way Worldwide is working to mobilize communities for social change.
Monica Vinluan discusses a YMCA initiative that is helping leaders across communities come together to make healthy choices easier.
"We all have a stake in creating a healthier community." Pat Remington, co-director, @CHRankings
Indiana's public and private sectors, led by Governor Mitch Daniels, have worked hard to make the state a healthier place to live. Indiana raised its cigarette tax - and consumption of tobacco products dropped by almost 20 percent. To reduce obesity, the health department is working with small businesses and school districts to increase access to healthy foods and physical activity.
Indiana's story, and five others, are featured in a report by Trust for America's Health about where employers are working with communities to make healthier choices easier for employees and their families.
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) knows good buildings and urban plans do more than just look pretty—they can have a major impact on the health of the people who live there. Brooks Rainwater, AIA's director of public policy, shared examples of design and architectural projects in eight communities that create open spaces, easier access to recreation and transit and ample opportunities for exercise.
Read the Q&A on NewPublicHealth.orgThroughout the country, people are coming together with a shared vision, strong leadership, and commitment to making needed and lasting changes that broadly improve community vitality. This is happening in large urban settings and small rural ones; it's happening in places with tremendous resources and in places with few resources to draw from.
These programs give communities the tools, research and resources to address health and health care problems at their roots—where we live, learn, work, and play.
Helping communities make it easier for residents to stay healthy.
Read how Kansas City, Mo., expanded urban agriculture by transforming an abandoned lot into a public park with a community garden.
A health impact assessment in Alameda County will look at how transportation affects health by providing access to jobs, quality schools, health care and social services, and healthy food.
The Federal Reserve System and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation are exploring how cross-sector and place-based approaches to revitalize communities can also improve health.
This national program offers evidence on what works to prevent childhood obesity by creating active communities.