Prevention is Primary: Strategies and Tools to Make Community Health and Equity a Reality

Place and community conditions significantly affect health. People lead healthier lives in safe communities with walkable and bikeable streets, parks and playgrounds, grocery stores selling healthy foods, and neighbors who know one another. Yet, not all communities support healthy outcomes equally. Prevention Institute's approach to addressing health equity advances a deeper understanding of how fundamental causes of disparity (e.g., economics and oppression) shape community environments, which, in turn, influence the underlying determinants of health, injury, and illness.

Robust public engagement is a critical component of any effort to promote health and equity through changes to community environments. Meaningful community participation builds trust, ensures that community priorities are understood, strengthens local residents’ capacity to articulate relevant solutions, and solidifies partnerships with local government. In disenfranchised communities, community engagement is particularly important to rectify experiences of injustice and mistrust. In addition, to advance place-based solutions that meet community needs and priorities, health professionals must collaborate with practitioners from other fields such as transportation and land use planning, parks and recreation, and economic development.

This presentation will highlight two tools that can be used to craft comprehensive, collaborative approaches to promote place-based health. Prevention Institute’s Spectrum of Prevention is an ecological framework for developing effective, sustainable primary prevention programs. Our Two Steps to Prevention is a determinants of health framework that identifies thirteen community factors that influence health. We will share case studies illustrating how these tools can be used to engage communities in creating healthier and more equitable environments.