Better engagement and trust building with community partners is key to successfully strengthening public health systems, according to a recent blog post in Health Affairs Forefront, co-authored by Sarah de Guia and Ana P. Novais, acting secretary for the Rhode Island Executive Office of Health and Human Services. They assert that “any effort by philanthropic funders or local, state, or federal governments to improve public health infrastructure must be done with community involvement to ensure that our revamped public health system doesn’t reproduce the problems of our current, inequitable system.“
The blog post covers the crucial role of community engagement in public health processes and policy implementation: ”By partnering with community leaders and organizations, public health agencies and leaders will be more successful in designing and implementing initiatives that best meet local needs, improving health for all, and dismantling structural inequities.“ After detailing examples of community partnerships led by ChangeLab Solutions, the Rhode Island Department of Health, and community-based organizations in California, de Guia and Novais conclude with actionable recommendations for public health organizations, governments, and funders to help strengthen public health infrastructure through community-led decision making.
Read the full blog post on the Health Affairs Forefront website.
2/28/2023