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Did you know that Roadmaps to Health Coaching provides local leaders with direct support to strengthen their capacity to build a Culture of Health in towns, cities, and neighborhoods across the United States?

Community coaching is part of the County Health Rankings & Roadmaps program, a collaborative project between the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute, dedicated to building a Culture of Health county by county.

Thanks to the support from RWJF, coaching is available at no cost to communities!

Within the County Health Rankings & Roadmaps Program, we have the Roadmaps to Health Action Center – which provides tools, and practical resources to guide communities as they build healthy places for all to live, learn, work, and play. Coaches bring expertise from a variety of disciplines and experiences to support leaders in using Action Center tools and guidance to advance health. Roadmaps to Health coaching offers community leaders the opportunity to:

• Strengthen and/or rejuvenate multi-sector partnerships so they are better poised to advance work that builds a Culture of Health;
• Build direction, alignment, and commitment to implement and sustain specific strategies to enhance health outcomes;
• Connect with others who are building a Culture of Health;
• Deepen their understanding of health, health equity, and health in all policies;
• Learn how to access tools and guidance in the Roadmaps to Health Action Center, including our searchable database of more than 360 policies and programs rated on their evidence of effectiveness.

County Health Rankings & Roadmaps, like many organizations across the country, is working to deepen its own efforts around health equity. Healthy People 2020 defines health equity as:

“…the attainment of the highest level of health for all people. Achieving health equity requires valuing everyone equally with focused and ongoing societal efforts to address avoidable inequalities, historical and contemporary injustices, and the elimination of health and health care disparities.”

In November 2015, we released the County Health Rankings Health Gaps Reports to explore what is driving health differences across each state and how those health gaps can be closed. Using the Health Gaps Report and the companion discussion guide, community coaches provide teams with information to build a Culture of Health using an equity framework to close the gaps.

Coaches customize their guidance for each community based on the community’s assets and goals, valuing community work already underway and meeting communities where they are in the Take Action Cycle. By honoring community leaders’ skills and strengthening their capacity to work together, strategize, and act, communities are better poised to advance health for all, both now and in the future.

To learn more about how coaching can support your community, please complete this form.