Dr. Shreya Kangovi, a primary care doctor, civic leader, and founding Executive Director of the Penn Center for Community Health Workers (CHWs), is the 2019 winner of the annual Health Equity Award. She and other community leaders are finding innovative ways of addressing the root causes of health disparities in cities across the country.
The health of a community lies in far more than just medical care. It is in how transportation is designed, in the homes we live in, in the food people have access to, and more. The CityHealth program is providing local government leaders with a package of proven, achievable but aspirational policies to improve community health.
Civic engagement is a popular idea these days, but if public managers and leaders of community-based organizations wish to succeed, they should consider the importance of engaging internally as well as externally.
Communities and regions are coming together to creatively address the underlying causes of ill-health and despair by building trans-partisan alliances and partnerships to implement common-sense actions that benefit people’s lives.
Through civic engagement processes, patient advocates can educate, empower and mobilize others to create the needed changes that will positively impact our communities for years to come.
The ability of communities to create long-term health and well-being depends on the formal and informal relationships, networks and capacities that communities use to make decisions collaboratively and solve problems.
The 2019 All-America City winners show us that communities can improve health outcomes by focusing on mental and behavioral health issues, increasing access to healthy foods, improving the built environment, collectively assessing community needs, and establishing creative partnerships.
