Roles of the local health department in implementing the City of Richmond's health element

The advent of a health element in the city of Richmond's general plan has provided Contra Costa Health Service (CCHS) a chance to expand our work in this low-income area with troubling rates of health disparities. Creating and implementing the health element, in partnership with city staff, residents, and community organizations, we have: 1) increased our internal capacity to work on built environment issues in community and government settings, 2) provided training and technical assistance to city and community groups about the impact of the built environment on health, 3) helped develop and implement built environment strategies that work across categorical issues and address priorities for community advocates, city staff and CCHS. We have also had an unexpected outcome from the project: the submittal of five joint grant proposals between various agencies in the partnership. In this case study, the Health Department will describe our roles as comrade, trainer, advisor, and learner in the remarkable process of writing and implementing the city of Richmond's health element.