In 2009, the PLACE MATTERS teams embarked upon a process called “blueprinting” that bought together subject matter experts, communities, and other stakeholders in a problem solving process for documenting lessons, process,  methods, and strategies in ways that are useful for PLACE MATTERS Team’s work in communities.  The Community Strategies to End Racism report highlights key strategies and tactics, through this report, which can be tailored to address  health inequities in other communities and jurisdictions.

Place Matters: Advancing Health Equity documents some of the Place Matters Team’s early successes and efforts  to transform how communities understand and tackle persistent racial and ethnic health inequities.

This study, carried out by leading researchers from Johns Hopkins University and the University of Maryland, provides important insight into how much of a fi nancial burden racial disparities are putting on our health care system and society at large. The researchers examined the direct costs associated with the provision of care to a sicker and more disadvantaged population, as well as the indirect costs of health inequities such as lost productivity, lost wages, absenteeism, family leave, and premature death.

This report tracks the stubborn persistence of concentrated poverty—poverty rates over 30 percent—in U.S. metropolitan areas over a period of nearly 40 years. Neighborhoods with povertyrates above 30 percent have been recognized as places with few opportunities for employment and education, high levels of disinvestment and crime, and meager civic participation. Living in such neighborhoods over extended periods reduces the life chances of children, whether their families are poor or not.

A series of reports commissioned in 2006 to the identify the social determinants confronting young men of color, and present public policy recommendations to address those obstacles, paving the way for a positive environmental change for this demographic group.

This report provides a comprehensive review of general and specific ACA provisions with the potential to significantly improve health and health care for millions of diverse populations and their communities.

In this report, we present an inventory of health care jobs occupied by people of color, and the changes in occupation mix over time. We then estimate job growth in the health care industry and present potential job opportunities for people of color. If we assume the current racial and ethnic distribution of the health care workforce persists, we would expect that in the future at least one-third of the total health care workforce will comprise people of color. This estimate is almost certainly lower than what will occur, because many people of color – especially Blacks and Hispanics – are in occupations that are among the fastest growing in the U.S.

This research report highlights the effects of place on health and health inequities. It outlines the existing evidence of residential segregation’s effect on health, and it extends upon existing literature by examining the relationship between segregation and health inequities using the latest federal Census and health data.

This policy brief identifies some of the policy strategies that are being studied and implemented in communities across the country.

Neighborhoods affect health. In 3 adjoining inner-city Cleveland, Ohio, neighborhoods, residents have an average life expectancy 15 years less than that of a nearby suburb. To address this disparity, a local health funder created the 2010 to 2013 Francis H. Beam Community Health Fellowship to develop a strategic community engagement process to establish a Healthy Eating & Active Living (HEAL) culture and lifestyle in the neighborhoods. The fellow developed and advanced a model, engaging the community in establishing HEAL options and culture.  Residents used the model to identify a shared vision for HEAL and collaborated with community partners to create and sustain innovative HEAL opportunities. This community-led, collaborative model produced high engagement levels (15% of targeted 12,000 residents) and tangible improvements in the neighborhood’s physical, resource, and social environments.  Full Field Report (here)