Our health is greatly influenced by complex factors such where we live, and the strength of our families and communities. But despite knowing this, positive change is not occurring at a promising pace. To accelerate progress, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has proposed the Culture of Health Framework to accelerate progress toward a future where everyone has the opportunity to live a healthier life.
- Action Area 1: Making Health a Shared Value by prioritizing and promoting health and well-being, through civic engagement that advances the public good, and by cultivating the public’s sense of connection with their community.
- Action Area 2: Fostering Cross-Sector Collaboration to Improve Well-being by fostering quality partnerships with community organizations, investing in collaboration, and by promoting polices that support collaboration.
- Action Area 3: Creating Healthier, More Equitable Communities by focusing on how to change the environment that supports well-being, fostering a social and economic environment where all can prosper, and by supporting policy that facilitates good health.
- Action Area 4: Strengthening Integration of Health Services and Systems by striving for better access to care for all, encouraging public health, social services and other parts of the health care system to work together, and by providing equitable and timely care.
Together, these action items promote improved population health, well-being and equity measured by individual and community well-being, preventing and treating chronic disease and reducing the cost of health care. Learn more at: Robert Wood’s Johnson, Building a Culture of Health.
Lake Cumberland District Health Department aspires to work with community partners as we become our communities’ “chief health strategists” while facilitating Community Health Improvement Plans. For more information on these efforts, visit LCDHD: Health Assessments, Analyses and Statistics.
Research prepared by the University of Kentucky, College of Public Health, with support from The Rober Wood Johnson Foundation titled, National Longitudinal Survey of Public Health Systems (NALSYS), 2018 Comparative Report of Survey Results, measures our district’s evolution over time in this regard and shows that the Lake Cumberland area is making good progress.
Also, Six Lake Cumberland Counties were identified by Robert Wood’s Johnson as “Bright Spots”, experiencing better health outcomes than expected compared to other Appalachian counties. For more information, see: Lake Cumberland “Bright Spots”.