Seven Communities Take on Timely Challenges in Health

By Max Hedgepeth, September 23, 2016

-->-->-->-->-->-->-->

On September 14, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) announced this year’s Culture of Health Prize winners. Each year, RWJF awards the Prize to communities that are creating opportunities for residents to live the healthiest lives possible. These communities see health in its totality and offer important lessons to the nation about how education, housing, jobs, poverty and safety impact health.

Selected from nearly 200 applicants nationwide, this year’s seven Prize winners differ in size and geographic makeup — but each one excels in the following six criteria:

Defining health in the broadest possible terms.
Committing to sustainable systems changes and policy-oriented long-term solutions.
Cultivating a shared and deeply-held belief in the importance of equal opportunity for health.
Harnessing the collective power of leaders, partners and community members
Securing and making the most of available resources.
Measuring and sharing progress and results.

The opioid epidemic, violence, homelessness, job creation and community-police relations are just some of the challenging issues Prize communities are tackling head on.

Click through the photos below to meet each of the 2016 Prize winners.