North Carolina county advancing equity through collective impact tool
=====================================================================

* Kim Krisberg

In Buncombe County, North Carolina, public health workers are going upstream to tackle health disparities between black and white residents.

To get there, local health workers are using the collective impact model, a health equity tool that helps leverage and create partnerships across sectors toward a common agenda. The tool is particularly apt at mobilizing action that is both sustainable and community-driven — two key factors when trying to impact social determinants that underlie health disparities.

According to Buncombe County’s 2015 community health assessment, black residents experience significant disparities in nearly every leading cause of death. For example, they die from diabetes at a rate three times higher than whites and experience higher rates of death from cancer and heart disease.

“We’ve got lots to learn as we go…but one thing that we are clear (on) is that keeping the voice of communities central to our planning, programming and interventions is key,” said Zo Mpofu, community health assessment coordinator at Buncombe County Health and Human Services, during a May webinar from the National Partnership for Action to End Health Disparities.

Guided by the collective impact model, Mpofu said the health agency facilitates and engages with a variety of community-driven efforts that target social determinants of health, such as those working to expand access to healthy foods, educational attainment and trauma-informed services.

“The solutions are to come from communities,” Mpofu said during the webinar.

To access the webinar and for more on the collective impact model, visit [www.npa-rhec.org/in-the-spotlight](http://www.npa-rhec.org/in-the-spotlight).

*   Copyright The Nation’s Health, American Public Health Association