Case Study by the Georgia Health Policy Center

Aligning Systems for Health: Health Care + Public Health + Social Services, sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) and managed by the Georgia Health Policy Center (GHPC), is focused on learning from stakeholders across the nation about effective ways to align these three sectors to better meet people’s goals and needs.

Given variance in the local context, there is no single model or formula to align systems. However, Aligning Systems for Health seeks to understand commonalities that drive successful efforts to align sectors. This series examines how communities that describe their work as aligning systems are doing it around four core components of a theory of change that RWJF and GHPC are testing: purpose, governance, data, and sustainable financing mechanisms.

A decades-long relationship between Stamford’s public housing authority, Charter Oak Communities, and the local health system, Stamford Health, enabled a land swap that ultimately led to the revitalization of that city’s West Side neighborhood through a collective-impact approach. A thriving, health-themed neighborhood is visual proof that addressing the social determinants of health can close health disparities and improve personal well-being.