As part of its Culture of Health Program , earlier this year the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) released a model for developing Community-Driven Health Equity Action Plans , as well as Community-Driven Health Equity Action Plans developed by groups from across the country with facilitation from the NAM. The model and completed plans are intended to serve as resources for communities as well as state and national organizers interested in advancing health equity at the community level. The...

The opioid epidemic is a national issue impacting communities across the country. It was declared a public health emergency in October 2017. Communities have mobilized at the national, state, and local level to address the problem, and Cooperative Extension has partnered with them in their efforts. The drivers and impacts of the opioid crisis in communities are complex and require a multi-level response. We employed a stakeholder engagement methodology, the SEED Method , to create...

Collective impact initiatives utilize shared measurement systems to identify key metrics of success that align partners toward a common vision. But a recent article by Justin Piff in the Stanford Social Innovation Review suggests that the specific data we chose to track loudly signals what we believe to be important. In the article, the author shares four lessons from his work that can help collective impact initiatives use data more effectively for social change. They are: 1. Prioritize the...

Roger, thank you for sharing this view about using data effectively for social change. It's a quick reminder to focus on why the data is being used and the importance on both the numbers and stories and their meaning; on the people we are serving. And to proceed with the near and long term in mind. Periodically asking questions that arise from the cited author could be very useful. Here's a list that came to me: Why are we using the data? What does it mean? How can we learn from the data?