Social Determinants of Health

Social determinants of health are a major contributing factor in community and individual health outcomes. A matter of a few miles or even a few city blocks can affect life expectancy by decades. For nearly 70 years, CHC has recognized that a one-size-fits all solution does not work to solve the barriers to health and longevity. However, no one organization can unilaterally solve these problems.

We are stronger together. That’s why, at CHC, we build partnerships to address health inequities by fostering trusted community engagement, fundraising, and offering programs and services to help support communities where everyone can thrive.

Education can be affected by factors like discrimination, poverty, bullying and disability. CHC partners with thousands of regional and national nonprofits addressing the social determinants of health that hinder access to education. For example, Action for Healthy Kids addresses the root causes of the child health crisis by supporting the foundations of lifelong health for kids. CHC partner Rachel’s Challenge addresses the root causes of school violence, bullying, prejudice, and self-harm through student wellness programs that build connection, hope and resilience. Our community-based partnerships also help to address educational gaps in healthcare. A recently launched 15-month CHC initiative will develop a comprehensive, community-based education and awareness program to address mis- and disinformation and increase vaccine confidence.

CHC works with and supports community partners to strengthen and expand their programming initiatives to reduce health disparities in their communities. Through funding from Elevance Health Foundation, CHC launched the Black Birthing Initiative in January 2022 to address the maternal health crisis and reduce preterm births. CHC also recently announced an initiative in partnership with Merck to tackle social and structural barriers to breast and cervical cancer prevention, screening, and support services in Atlanta, Georgia. CHC is also partnering to accelerate vaccination equity in rural Georgia. Our strategic anchor, “Grow Impact” centers on addressing disparities, by reducing health inequities, with the goal of affecting more than 1 million people by 2028.

Where you live should not determine how long you live. And yet communities separated by a few miles can experience completely different expectations in terms of crime, access to food and healthcare and clean water. Further, extreme weather crises have created an inescapable threat for many. CHC supports policy changes and interventions that can help alleviate the greatest neighborhood and built environment concerns. At CHC, we’ve been working to address the barriers to health for nearly 70 years. It’s about ensuring every person in every community has an opportunity to live their healthiest life. We work with thousands of nonprofits, companies, and other organizations, raising resources, building coalitions, elevating communities, and partnering to strengthen local infrastructure and capacity. Because stronger, healthier people and communities can better weather these storms.