New AJPH Supplement Calls For More Alignment Among Public Health, Medical, and Social Systems To Provide Health For All

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

Contact: Media Relations

The road to improving the health of all communities means the nation’s public health, medical and social systems must work better together. In a new AJPH supplement, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Systems for Action program presents more than a decade of research showing how working together leads to better outcomes, giving all a chance to be healthier. Titled, ‘Aligning Medical, Social and Public Health Systems to Promote Health Equity,’ the authors share evidence-based strategies that can be used to save lives. The article also spells out the lessons learned to help those working in these systems reach across sectors and collaborate in the communities they serve. 

While public health and medical professionals, government officials and social advocates serve the same populations, operating in their separate silos is not effective. Systems for Action’s research shows how this approach has resulted in duplication of services, discontinuity of care and a failure to address underlying social conditions that impact health. 

Co-author Glen Mays, PhD, MPH, Director of the Systems for Action national program office, puts that into perspective. “We know that social and economic problems like food insecurity and housing instability morph over time into diseases, injuries, deaths and rising medical expenditures. This body of research tells us how to nudge our health systems and social service systems so that they work better together to save lives and money.” 

Adapting in times like these is imperative. This supplement outlines research highlighting successful ways to align systems and services that share the same health goals in their communities. Key findings include an analysis of how regional governing boards in Ohio’s rural behavioral health and child welfare systems improved services and how investor-financed social impact bonds improve the health of patients. 

With Systems for Action set to end in 2026, the program leaves behind a well of lessons and evidence-based strategies for those whose work is dedicated to improving the lives of all, using health equity approaches to move communities and future generations forward toward a better quality of life. 

Read the supplement here.

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The American Public Health Association champions optimal, equitable health and well-being for all. With our broad-based member community and 150-year perspective, we influence federal policy to improve the public’s health. Learn more at www.apha.org.

Systems for Action is a national research program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation that aims to discover and apply new evidence about ways of aligning delivery and financing systems across the medical, public health, and social services sectors that advance health equity. For more information, visit systemsforaction.org. 

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) is committed to improving the health and health equity in the United States. In partnership with others, we are committed to taking hold leaps to transform health in our lifetime and paving the way together to a future where health is no longer a privilege but a right. To achieve that vision, we are deepening our focus on dismantling one of the biggest barriers to health in America, structural racism. For more information, visit www.rwjf.org.