THEORY OF CHANGE
PEOPLE WHO WHO WE WE WORK WORK WITH WITH
Within Health Forward’s communities of focus, we prioritize people who experience the greatest injustices in health outcomes, including: • People of color whose health outcomes are shaped by structural racism and other socioeconomic conditions • People in rural areas where systemic barriers hinder optimal health These communities often overlap with people of varied identities who are experiencing economic insecurity, live in marginalized conditions, and have been systematically barred from accessing high quality care that is affordable, equitable, and trauma-informed.
PURPOSE STRATEGIES STRATEGIES AND INITIATIVES Strengthen capacity and effectiveness of partners to provide whole-person, equity-centered care • Support partners to deliver whole-person care with multi-year, unrestricted funding • Support partner-led, field building initiatives that foster: antiracist, culturally responsive care; social care integration; and communities of care
Every day we work to support and build inclusive, powerful, and healthy communities characterized by racial equity and economically just systems
IMMEDIATE OUTCOMES STRATEGIC AND INITIATIVE OUTCOMES
INTENDED INTENDED IMPACT IMPACT
Advance equity-centered, whole-person care • Improved organizational effectiveness and capacity to deliver whole-person care • Increased availability of, and access to, whole-person care • Improved workforce understanding and capacity to address clinical and community trauma; DEIB best practices; and competency and capability in antiracist practice
High-quality, equitable community health ecosystem
• Strenghtened and connected communities of care
Advance equity-centered innovation and infrastructure across the community health ecosystem
Increased competency and capability of organizations and workforce
• Convene and support collective impact work that shapes policies and addresses health disparities. Work such as: - The Kansas City Health Equity Learning Action Network - Promotion of collecting and using race, ethnicity, and language data - Reimbursement for community health workers • Support other strategic innovations that advance health equity • Test “food as medicine” as prevention and treatment
• Improved understanding and use of clinical, community trauma, and antiracist practices
Champion an inclusive and culturally responsive health sciences workforce • Commission a comprehensive, multi-stakeholder assessment of the region’s health sciences diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging landscape • Assess different funding mechanisms to support scholarships and tuition reimbursement for underrepresented talent
Advocate for policies that improve health • Expand equitable access to high-quality health care • Increase funding and support for public health transformation • Address the social and political influencers of health
• Increased use of race, ethnicity, and language data in quality improvement (e.g., screening and prevention) • Improved team-based and integrated care to reduce health disparities
Strong community organizations and voices
Increased coordination, alignment, and commitment among systems and actors in the health sciences ecosystem • Increased funding for incentives to attract and retain a diverse talent pool • Increased diversity of talent in the whole-person care spectrum
Equitable access to high-quality, whole-person care • Increased Medicaid enrollment • Increased funding for public health system transformation • Increased race, ethnicity, and language competency and use in quality improvement • Improved team-based and integrated care
Equitable and just places that foster health and economic advancement