As Maricopa County expands its focus on health equity, there is room for additional thought leaders to contribute to meaningful change.”
—RAND Corporation
RWJF Culture of Health 5-Year Community Landscape Report Maricopa County, Arizona
Report Feb-01-2022 2-min read
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Report Publish Date: February 2022
This report summarizes the health, wellbeing, and equity journey of Maricopa County, Arizona, from 2016 to 2021, as part of RWJF’s Sentinel Communities Surveillance project.
Primary Takeaways
“Maricopa County’s efforts to promote health, equity, and wellbeing are led by the county’s Department of Public Health as well as local health systems but also relies heavily on a diverse mix of organizations to reach populations with unique cultural or linguistic needs, or who are less connected to traditional safety net systems,” the authors write. “In recent years, community capacity to address health and wellbeing has increased in part due to the commitment of local and regional philanthropies as well as to increases in staff and operating budgets of many county offices.” Still, many of these efforts were happening in siloes, according to community stakeholders.
Over the five years of the study, community leaders and partners moved from focusing primarily on chronic disease to paying more attention to the social determinants of health, the authors say.
Overview and Objectives
Begun in 2016, RWJF’s Sentinel Communities Surveillance project tracks how a Culture of Health is developing in 29 communities across the country. The authors wanted to describe key challenges, opportunities, and insights in Maricopa County.
Hypothesis or Approach
For this report, the authors conducted 30 hourlong, semi-structured interviews between early 2017 and fall 2021. Interviewees came from a number of different types of organizations and sectors.
How This Influences Change
“Evidence suggests that Maricopa County has shifted its focus more toward health and wellbeing, including an acknowledgement of the importance of social determinants of health and other systemic and structural factors that contribute to health equity,” the authors write. “Although the change is happening slowly, ongoing investments by dedicated organizations continue to lead the way. Other communities can learn from Maricopa County’s approaches to make these changes, as well as the challenges the county encountered, to inform their own journeys.”
Research: Go Deeper
Maricopa County is one of the largest counties in the United States—both in terms of area covered and size of population, with large Latino and American Indian communities. Over the past five years, the county has adopted an emphasis on the social determinants of health, recognizing that many sectors and systems contribute to residents’ wellbeing. Despite this recognition, economic and health disparities are prevalent in the region, affordable housing is a challenge, and the health and social needs of undocumented immigrants are high. Over the last five years, investments and initiatives supported by federal funding and local philanthropy have started to address these disparities, and the county health department has dedicated funds to address health disparities over the next two years. Given concerns around climate change and increases in the heat index over the past few years, the city of Phoenix, located in Maricopa County, adopted an ambitious climate action plan in 2021. Local organizations are increasing their focus on health equity, but efforts remain siloed, leaving many opportunities for further collaboration.
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, February 2022
Figure 1: Population characteristics for Maricopa County, Arizona Page 2
Research Team
This study and report was conducted and created by:
- RAND Corporation
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