Institution-led health equity initiatives often fail to produce effective, sustainable changes, in part because of superficial partnerships with the community that the interventions are intended to benefit. Community members have valuable knowledge and skills that are often underappreciated in these collaborations.

In this blueprint, we present real world examples of how community-led efforts can bring about equitable health outcomes. We highlight commonalities in approach, structure, and needs among community organizations.

Why this matters

Strong partnerships between institutions and community members have the capacity to reduce health inequities in our society.

What we found

We identified eight common themes that contribute to the success of community organizations:

• understanding the community’s needs
• common understanding of structural racism
• building horizontal communities
• harnessing existing networks
• leveraging familiar cultural practices and principles
• programming at multiple spheres of influence
• trusted research partnerships
• funding for impact

How we did it

We conducted interviews with representatives from five community-led organizations that are working to create system-level changes and address inequities in health and/or health care.