Improving Health Outcomes Through Our Cultures, Communities, and Connections

For years, NACDD has been committed to advancing health equity and reducing health disparities and inequities in racial and ethnic minority communities so that everyone has the chance to live a healthy life.

April is National Minority Health Month, and this year’s theme — “Be the Source for Better Health: Improving Health Outcomes Through Our Cultures, Communities, and Connections“— aligns well with NACDD’s Mission, “NACDD improves the health of the public by strengthening state and national leadership and expertise for chronic disease prevention and control. NACDD promotes social justice and wellbeing so that communities can build healthier futures.”

NACDD’s Social Justice Framework, created in collaboration with partners, provides public health practitioners with a blueprint for embedding social justice into the work of chronic disease programs. The Framework features five pillars that further expound on longtime U.S. Congressman and Civil Rights icon John Lewis’ definition of social justice by focusing on systems that devalue humanity, considering the legacy of injustices that remain, and fostering individual and communal action.

Later this month, we are excited to convene Chronic Disease Directors, partners, and national organizations for a series of Thought Leader Round Table (TLRT) sessions held in Decatur, Georgia. The TLRT will discuss opportunities to leverage the Social Justice Framework to improve chronic disease health outcomes and advance health equity.

NACDD also recently collaborated with Build Healthy Places Network (BHPN) to create a primer, Public Health Primer: Engaging Community Development for Health Equity that illustrates opportunities for public health to advance racial equity goals through engagement with those responsible for helping to shape the built environment. It emphasizes the importance of resident leadership and provides guidance on how relationship building can address injustices and promote equitable change in communities. In March, NACDD’s Center for Justice in Public Health VP Robyn Taylor, MBA joined other partners in a BHPN webinar that shared recommendations from the public health primer.

We also recently partnered with We All Count to offer our Members an opportunity to participate in a series of trainings focused upon data equity. The trainings emphasize the equitable and ethical use of data and practical skills to improve equity in an organization’s data. This training supports the fifth pillar, Reflexivity and Data Processes, of the Social Justice Framework.

Reflecting on National Minority Health Month, we reaffirm our commitment to ensuring that all communities have access to the resources and support they need to lead healthy lives. We acknowledge this is an ongoing journey and are continuously seeking ways to improve. Internally, NACDD leaders and staff actively participated in Racial, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (REDI) foundational sessions with the Racial Equity Group, culminating in the creation of a three-year action plan designed to operationalize and embed racial equity into the core practices and procedures of NACDD, ensuring a lasting impact on the organization’s commitment to equity and inclusion.

NACDD is also a founding member of the Collaborative for Anti-racism and Equity. This Collaborative started as a group of partners all working to understand and support the movement to address racism as a public health crisis. Over the past year, it has evolved and expanded, connecting partners who are advancing health and racial equity through research, communication, policy, advocacy, and the development of resources and frameworks. This is a space for anyone engaging in health equity, racial equity, and anti-racism work to access essential resources to inform your work, whether you are just starting out or are further along in your journey.

Throughout April, follow us on LinkedIn and Facebook for posts about our programs and projects focused on reducing health inequities and social, economic, environmental, and structural disparities among different populations. 

We’d also love to hear how your health department or organization is “improving health outcomes through our cultures, communities, and connections.” We encourage you to share your success stories and start a conversation on NACDD’s Engage Community.

More health equity resources:

For more NACDD resources focused on advancing health equity and addressing disparities, please visit https://chronicdisease.org/page/healthequityprograms/resources.

Also check out NACDD’s four-part course on Advancing Health Equity. Each interactive course features videos with public health experts and leaders, application and reflection activities, resources, and an evaluation.