Johnson County Public Health is delighted to announce that its Community Health Division has been selected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as one of 40 nationwide recipients of $125,000 in funding to address health disparities and social determinants of health within our communities. The goal of this discretionary grant program is to accelerate public health strategies and actions that reduce the burden of chronic disease among people experiencing health disparities and inequities. JCPH has proposed the creation of a leadership team of community stakeholders to form a plan for Community Health Workers (CHWs) to help address chronic disease in underserved populations within the county.

The social determinants of health (SDOH) are the non-medical factors that influence health outcomes, which include the conditions in which people are born, grow, work, live, and age, as well as the wider set of forces and systems shaping the conditions of daily life. These factors influence the opportunities available to us to practice healthy behaviors, enhancing or limiting our ability to live healthy lives. Addressing SDOH appropriately is fundamental for improving health and reducing longstanding inequities in health, and through which we can make progress toward health equity, a state in which every person has the opportunity to attain their highest level of health.

The project proposal selected for funding will include convening a leadership team of multi-sectoral partners who are passionate about addressing disparities in our community and who are committed to working collaboratively to pool assets and expertise to direct the process of forming a team of CHWs, which will address chronic disease in county populations disproportionately affected by barriers to their care and prevention efforts. The funding is offered through the CDC’s “Closing the Gap with Social Determinants of Health Accelerator Plans” grant program, administered by its Division of Population Health within the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion.