OVERVIEW
Through resolutions, executive orders and other measures local leaders are declaring racism a public health crisis and committing to addressing systemic health and racial inequities. However, local leaders grapple with determining which policies and practices can deliver meaningful change toward health, racial equity and justice.
Healing through Policy: Creating Pathways to Racial Justice is an initiative of the National Collaborative for Health Equity, the de Beaumont Foundation, and the American Public Health Association. The initiative is identifying a suite of racial equity policies and practices that can be implemented at the local level to promote racial healing and address social inequities.
The Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation (TRHT) model is the guiding framework for the initiative’s approach. The TRHT framework is a comprehensive, national and community-based process to plan and implement transformational and sustainable change, targeting the historic and contemporary effects of racism. TRHT recognizes that advancing racial equity and justice requires acknowledging past harms, addressing the underlying beliefs that fuel racism and facilitating healing within and across communities. Healing through Policy is using the TRHT framework to develop a menu of policies and practices that advance health and racial equity. The components of the framework are: Narrative Change, Racial Healing and Relationship Building, Separation, Law, and Economy. A policy advisory committee of diverse policy experts, partners, stakeholders and community representatives will select the most promising options to make up the policy and practice menu.
