Social and Community Context
Health begins where we live, learn, work and play. The connections you have to your community and those around you can have a big impact on your overall health and wellbeing. To understand how social and community context impacts your health it’s important to look at conditions such as:
Many people are surprised to learn that your social and community context are more likely to impact your health than health behaviors. Communities or groups who have ready access to social connections, experience less discrimination and have lower rates of incarceration, and those who can easily participate in the political process have better outcomes.
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Social relationships—both quantity and quality—affect mental health, health behavior, physical health, and mortality risk. Friendships, social relations, and supportive networks improve health in every aspect of life.
Understand Local Conditions
Social Relationships and Health: A Flashpoint for Health Policy
Key research themes and policy implications on the connection between social relationships and health.
Source: Journal of Health and Social Behavior
Social Needs Screening Toolkit
Learn how to create a social needs screening tool.
Source: Health Leads
Well-Being Concepts
Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQOL) that includes well-being concepts helps to measure what people think and fell about their lives, such as the quality of their relationships, their positive emotions and resilience and the realization of their potential.
Source: Centers for Disease Control and PreventionChange Local Conditions
Essentials for Childhood: Steps to Create Safe, Stable, Nurturing Relationships and Environments
Strategies that communities can consider to promote the types of relationships and environments that help children grow up to be healthy and productive citizens so that they, in turn, can build stronger and safer families and communities for their children.
Source: Centers for Disease Control and PreventionLeveraging Intersection Opportunities
Promoting Health Equity: A Resource to Help Communities Address Social Determinants of Health
A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention resource to address social determinants of health and promote health equity.
Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Community Based Social Support for Physical Activity
Examples of community based social support that demonstrate community involvement in promoting physical activity.
Source: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation; University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute
Social Support for Physical Activity
Handbook for developing a community based walking group for youth and adults.
Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Queens Community House
Offers programs which help with Affordable Housing, Immigrant Rights, LGBT issues and work together to strengthen their communities.
Source: Building Movement Project
Somos Mayfair
Program which offers peer-to-peer social services, cultural activism, and community organizing.
Source: Building Movement Project
Bread for the City
An organization's effort to bridge services and social justice to create a formal structure for advocacy across programs.
Source: Building Movement ProjectLeverage SDoH Examples
Humanitas Home
Nursing homes offer college students opportunity to live rent-free in vacant rooms in exchange for 30 hours of volunteering to provide social support to elderly residents.
Source: City Lab
New South Wales Nursing Home
Some nursing homes are co-locating early childhood programs within their facilities to encourage social relationships with elderly tenants.
Source: ABC News
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Social cohesion happens when people share an emotional connection with each other and are willing to cooperate and work together to improve the wellbeing of everyone in the community (Bruhn, 2009; Stanley, 2003). Social cohesion can promote community health by improving conditions affecting people’s wellbeing.
Understand Local Conditions
Sense of Community Index
Requires a free login to access: Register to access the Sense of Community Index (SCI) which is the most frequently used survey to gauge a sense of community.
Source: Community Science
The Relationship Between Social Cohesion and Empowerment: Support and New Implications for Theory
This article describes the concepts of Empowerment Theory and its related concepts of social cohension, community participation, trust, connectedness, and civic engagement.
Source: Health Education and BehaviorChange Local Conditions
Building Social Cohesion in our Communities
An online resource for local governments to help build socially cohesive communities.
Source: Australian Human Rights Commission, 2015
Example Strategies Promoting Social Cohesion
A summary of example strategies used by communities across the country to promote social cohesion.
Source: ABLe Change
67 Minutes: A Successful Example of Social Cohesion
Brief article summarizing the 67 Minutes campaign and its lasting effects on guiding individual actions towards social cohesion.
Source: Alternative International Journal
How Can We Create a More Socially Cohesive Society?
Short article explaining how focusing on community social cohesion can lead to change through moments of positive social conflict.
Source: Psychlopaedia
Dance Group Educates on Malaria Prevention
This campaign focused on changing attitudes and behaviors about malaria through ethnic dances and community dialogue.
Source: Community Tool Box
Measuring Social Cohesion in Community Settings: Case Studies of pre- and post-Internet Intervention
This case study in a school community aimed to assess strategies for building social cohesion by the use of social media as tools for building social cohesion.
Source: UniTecLeverage SDoH Intersection Examples
Local Services and Amenities, Neighborhood Social Capital, and Health
This paper argues that using the term “social capital” to discuss social resources and their mobilization in a particular neighborhood highlights the ways in which social resources can vary in relation to economic resources.
Source: ScienceDirect
Northside Circulator
A free shuttle for elder citizens to get easy access to basic amenities, groceries, socialize with others.
Source: Star Tribune
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Community engagement involves working collaboratively with and through groups of people who have a shared interest or situation to address issues affecting the health and wellbeing of those people (CDC, 1997). This can include engaging in identifying relevant issues, making decisions about how to address them, and evaluating the results.
Understand Local Conditions
Youth Involvement and Engagement Assessment Tool
How to assess youth involvement and engagement.
Source: Youth.gov
Principles of Community Engagement Second Edition
Definitions, principles, and examples of using community engagement to promote community health.
Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Healthy Community Design Checklist
This checklist can help you make decisions about land use in your community that will make everyone happier and healthier.
Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Distinguish Your Work: Outreach or Community Engagement
An assessment tool to help separate outreach and engagement work in order to specify between the two and implement strategies devoted to both.
Source: Building the Field of Community Engagement; Nexus Community Partners
Community Engagement Assessment Tool
Assessment tool to help individuals document their current level of community engagement in different areas.
Source: Nexus Community PartnersChange Local Conditions
Strategies for Community Change and Improvement
Tools, resources, and recommendations for how to promote community organizing and engagement.
Source: Community Tool Box
Citizen Engagement 101
Helpful tool for people to make change in their own neighborhoods.
Source: The Philadelphia CitizenLeverage SDoH Intersection Examples
Kansas City Develops MOU and Shares Space with Community Organizers
The Health Department creates a relationship with Communities Creating Opportunity, a largely faith-based community organizing group to build an enriched relationship to do meaningful community engagement and enact upstream policy change.
Source: Health Equity Guide
Youth Organizing to Address Educational Inequities
Example of how youth from schools with highest rates of suspensions and expulsions organized to reform inequities in disciplinary systems and address root causes of trauma and social determinants of poor health.
Source: University of Wisconsin
Michigan Sandbox Party
Non-partisan grassroots advocacy network for children, youth and families supporting resident engagement around policies, practices, and investments supporting health and learning from cradle to career.
Source: Michigan’s Children
New Settlement Community Campus
A community school facility which offers education as well as a range of programs for community members.
Source: Settlement Housing Fund, Inc.
Cook County Partners with Community to Tackle Structural Racism and Build Community Power
The Collaborative makes addressing structural racism and building community power an explicit element of its mission, with community organizers sitting on the Steering Committee and guiding Health Department work.
Source: Health Equity Guide
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Equity is when everyone has a fair and just opportunity for health and wellbeing. Unfortunately, some groups experience more obstacles to this opportunity than others, and these obstacles often accumulate because of discrimination related to socioeconomic status, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, disability status, geographic location, or some combination of these characteristics. A focus on Equity requires dedicated effort to remove obstacles, including addressing poverty, discrimination, powerlessness, and the lack of access to good jobs, quality education, safe housing and neighborhoods, and quality available healthcare.
Understand Local Conditions
Racial Equity Impact Assessment
A series of questions to assess the extent to which a proposed policy, program, or plan promotes equity.
Source: The Annie E. Casey Foundation
Race Equity and Inclusion Action Guide
Seven steps to embed racial equity within your organization.
Source: The Annie E. Casey Foundation
Countering the Production of Health Inequities
An examination of the issues of inequity in the health sector.
Source: Prevention Institute
Unnatural Causes Website: Explore Health Equity
A list of multimedia resources, reports and videos on how racism can have an impact a person’s health.
Source: Public Broadcasting Service
Center for Social Inclusion Website
Information on social inclusion and racial equity.
Source: Center for Social InclusionChange Local Conditions
Equity Resources
Toolkits, briefs, policy reports, case studies, and data sources on promoting equity.
Source: The Annie E. Casey Foundation
Health Equity Resource Toolkit for State Practitioners Addressing Obesity Disparities
Ways to increase the capacity of state health departments and their partners to work with and through communities to implement effective responses to obesity in populations facing health disparities.
Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Prevention Institute Health Equity Tools
Practical tools to help practitioners, advocates, community groups, and policymakers promote equity through their efforts.
Source: Prevention Institute
Health Equity Initiative
Tools, reports, and other resources on promoting health equity.
Source: Multnomah County
Promoting Health Equity: A Resource to Help Communities Address Social Determinants of Health
Provides resources and case studies of how communities have pursued equity by addressing the social determinants of health.
Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Better Health Through Equity
Provides case studies of how Public Health Departments embedded a culture of equity within their work.
Source: American Public Health Association
Race Equity and Inclusion Action Guide
Seven steps to embed racial equity within your organization.
Source: The Annie E. Casey Foundation
Building Inclusive Communities
Resources on how to put conditions in place to ensure your local community is inclusive for residents from multiple backgrounds.
Source: Community Tool Box
King County Transforms County Practice to Advance Equity
King County transformed its practice across all departments and agencies to advance equity.
Source: Health Equity Guide
Long Beach Creates Office of Equity
City of Long Beach created an Office of Equity to elevate conversations around equity and social justice, to build racial and health equity capacity across city government.
Source: Health Equity Guide
New York City Races to Justice
The initiative builds staff skills to address racisms
Source: Health Equity GuideLeverage SDoH Intersection Examples
Alameda County Advances Equitable Housing Policies
County changed local housing affordability policies to eliminate housing and health inequities in low-income communities.
Source: Health Equity Guide
Boston Uses Public Housing to Promote Healthy Birth Outcomes
Developed new policy and program to ensure public housing slots for housing-insecure pregnant women.
Source: Health Equity Guide
Some Seattle Schools End ‘Tracking’ in Push for Equity and Success
Long troubled by the racial separation in many Seattle classrooms, teachers are leading an effort to dismantle the district’s history of de facto segregation.
Source: Seattle Times
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Reducing health disparities and inequities around incarceration can play a huge role in the health of individuals, families, and communities. Whether communities are focused on upstream prevention, family reunification, or diversion efforts which provide wraparound supports for ex-offenders, the connection to health and healing is profound. A focus on incarceration can take many forms such as supporting healthy development of children and youth, addressing neighborhood crime and violence, or connecting families and ex-offenders to effective local resources.
Understand Local Conditions
The Opportunity Atlas
Interactive map showing incarceration rates by county.
Source: The Opportunity Atlas
Crime Prevention Assessment Tool
A tool on sustainable and integrated approaches to crime prevention.
Source: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
The Devastating Toll of Parental Incarceration on Kids, Families and Communities
A summary of the impact that stress, poverty, and parental incarceration has on children.
Source: Annie E. Casey Foundation
The Impact of Incarceration on Families: A Single-Jurisdiction Pilot Study
Study that examines many consequences of incarceration on family members including health effects, psychological stress, and economic determinants
Source: US Department of Justice
The Criminal Justice Outcomes of Jail Diversion Programs for Persons With Mental Illness: A Review of the Evidence
A discussion of the effectiveness of jail diversion programs that are designed to keep people with serious mental illness out of jails and prisons.
Source: American Academy of Psychiatry and the LawChange Local Conditions
Diversion/Alternatives to Incarceration
Case Studies of projects designed to divert people out of and away from incarceration.
Source: Chicago Appleseed Fund
Diversion and Re-Entry: Community-Based Services
Examples of community-based programs focused on both jail diversion and re-entry reduction.
Source: Safer Foundation
Reentry Education Framework
This toolkit offers guidelines, tools, and resources to strengthen the communication and coordination of education services in correctional facilities and community-based programs.
Source: U.S. Department of Education
Toolkit for Developing Family-Focused Jail Programs- Children of Incarcerated Parents Project
This toolkit includes ideas for jail programs that support positive relationships between parents and children.
Source: The Urban Institute
Prisoner Reentry Toolkit for Faith-Based and Community Organizations
Explore different community-based approaches to prisoner reentry efforts.
Source: United States Department of Labor Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives
Child Trauma Toolkit for Educators.
Tips for providing support for children who experience trauma, such as parental incarceration. Also available in Spanish.
Source: National Child Traumatic Stress Network.
The Social Reintegration of Offenders and Crime Prevention
A review of interventions designed to reintegrate formally incarcerated individuals and prevent recidivism.
Source: The International Centre for Criminal Law Reform and Criminal Justice Policy (ICCLR)
Home with a Purpose: A History of the Safe Return Project
How a group of formerly incarcerated people developed the power and capacity to lead efforts to reject a proposed jail expansion.
Source: Haas Institute
The Criminal Justice Outcomes of Jail Diversion Programs for Persons With Mental Illness: A Review of the Evidence
A discussion of the effectiveness of jail diversion programs that are designed to keep people with serious mental illness out of jails and prisons.
Source: American Academy of Psychiatry and the LawLeverage SDoH Intersection Examples
The Safe Return Project
Example of how a group of formerly incarcerated people developed the power and capacity to lead efforts to reject a proposed jail expansion.
Source: Haas Institute
How the Formerly Incarcerated Support the Formerly Incarcerated
The First 72 Plus is a New Orleans-based non-profit founded by six men who had all previously been incarcerated.
Source: Next City
PASCEP Workshop Teaches Life Skills After Incarceration
In Philadelphia, a former attorney who was incarcerated for embezzlement founded the National Workforce “Opportunity Network. The program has partnered with Temple University to provide services and job training for the recently incarcerated.
Source: Temple News
MATC Program Helps Children of Incarcerated Parents Finish High School
The Right Path program aims to help break the cycle of poverty and criminality. It covers tuition and course materials for students as well as providing stipends.
Source: Milwaukee Journal
Traumatic Brain Injury and Incarceration: Ending a Vicious Cycle
The Brain Injury Alliance of Colorado provides traumatic brain injury survivors with the proper resources to thrive in society.
Source: U.S. News & World Report
Empowering Innovation
PEP has a rigorous criterion and selection process designed to identify the top 500 men each year from more than 10,000 candidates.
The selection process begins when the Texas Department of Criminal Justice provides PEP with a list of inmates who are eligible to apply.
Source: Prison Entrepreneur Program
Gearing Up
Program that helps women find bicycling as a way to connect to each other and their community after incarceration.
Source: Mother Nature Network, Gearing Up
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Data Source The Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS)
The BRFSS is a national databank of health-related risk behaviors, chronic health conditions, and use of preventive services.
(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)State Occupational Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities
State data presenting the number and frequency of work-related injuries, illnesses, and fatal injuries.
(Bureau of Labor Statistics)Absentee and early voting guidelines by state (map)
This state-by-state map has voting and absentee information.
(National Committee of State Legislatures)