Hospitals are adopting strategies to address societal factors at the community level that impact swaths of the patient population. While health care alone cannot change community circumstances, hospital partnerships with multisector community stakeholders can influence community ecosystems to provide an environment in which all community members can thrive.
AHA Community Health Improvement is the premier national network for community health, community benefit and population health professionals. We provide educational resources and tools, professional development and networking opportunities to help health leaders expand their knowledge and enhance their performance in achieving community health goals.
The biggest threats to children’s health aren’t always clinical — they’re happening in communities every day. In this conversation, Mary Kate Daly, senior vice president and chief of community health of the Patrick M. Magoon Institute for Healthy Communities at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, explains how long-term investments, powerful community partnerships, and a first-of-its-kind community health hub are leading to better outcomes for kids in Chicago and beyond.
What if a hospital stay could be the first step out of homelessness? In this conversation, Sarah Stella, M.D., director of Denver Health's Housing Outreach, Partnerships and Engagement (HOPE) program, reveals how Denver Health is helping some of the community's most vulnerable patients move from crisis to stability. Bringing together hospitals, housing providers, social services and community partners, the HOPE program is creating real pathways to recovery and restoring hope for people experiencing homelessness.
Hospitals impact far more than what happens inside their walls. In this conversation, Doug Brown, partner with Manatt Health and current chair of the American Hospital Association's Foster G. McGaw Prize Committee, discusses how hospitals are tackling food insecurity, workforce development, safe neighborhoods, and other social drivers of health through authentic community partnerships. Discover what it takes for hospitals to truly serve as cornerstones of their communities, and how the Foster G. McGaw Prize highlights these innovative programs that are making a difference.
Hear from Dignity Health St. Joseph's in Phoenix and Oschner Health from New Orleans as they share tools, models and replicable strategies developed in collaboration with public stakeholders to strengthen your community health needs assessments.
The AHA Hospital Community Collaborative (HCC) provides proven ideas, insights and resources for creating effective, sustainable collaborations between hospitals and community organizations across sectors.
This framework guides hospitals’ strategies to identify patients’ social needs, the social drivers of health in their communities and the systemic causes that lead to health inequities so all stakeholders can take action around these critical issues. Members only.
Tool models how health care providers, public health agencies, and community-based organizations can effectively coordinate their efforts together.
Tool features foundational population health concepts and a curated set of tools.
Report examines the impact of housing instability on individuals’ health and outlines opportunities for hospitals to reduce housing instability in their communities. Members only.
Tools, assessments, evidence-based examples, and other resources to help build and sustain cross-sector partnerships that are working to improve the health of individuals and communities.
The resources on this page showcase stories and the steps to achieving successful behavioral health community partnerships and expand access to behavioral health services.
How frontline leaders can identify which tactics and partnerships will bring the best results and lead to healthy communities where everyone reaches their highest potential for health.