BOX 1-1Statement of Task Committee on Community-Based Solutions to Promote Health Equity in the United States

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, as part of its Culture of Health initiative, has asked the Health and Medicine Division of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to assist in delineating causes of and solutions to health inequities in the United States. A consensus committee will be formed to examine the evidence on solutions to promote health equity.

As part of its work a committee convened for this purpose will:

• Review the state of health disparities in the United States and explore the underlying conditions and root causes contributing to health inequity and the interdependent nature of the factors that create them (such as systems of employment, public safety, housing, transportation, education, and others).
• Where appropriate, the committee will draw from existing literature and syntheses on health disparities and health inequity.
• Identify and examine a minimum of six examples of community-based solutions that address health inequities, drawing both from deliberate and indirect interventions or activities that promote equal opportunity for health. The examples should span health and non-health sectors and should take into account the range of factors that contribute to health inequity in the United States (such as systems of employment, public safety, housing, transportation, education, and others).
  • The committee may review appropriate frameworks for assessing policies and actions to address health inequalities and use these to examine the examples of community-based solutions.
  • The committee will review the identified community-based solutions through the lens of the culture of health action areas, drivers, and measures.
• Identify the major elements of effective or promising solutions and their key levers, policies, stakeholders, and other elements that are needed to be successful.
• Recommend elements of short- or long-term strategies and solutions that communities may consider to expand opportunities to advance health equity.
• Recommend key research needs to help identify and strengthen evidence-based solutions and other recommendations as viewed appropriate by the committee to reduce health disparities and promote health equity.