A Compilation of Newsletters on the Relationship Between Socially Determined Health and Education, Food Systems, and Housing

*In 2016, the SOL program pivoted for the year to focus on political engagement in what was then called the “Political Engagement Pilot Project,” or PEPP. This was an alternative version of SOL that laid the groundwork for the development of the PEP program as it currently exists.

My final project was for Invest Health, one of NVG’s clients. Invest Health is a partnership between the Reinvestment Fund and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and works to bring diverse leaders from 50 mid sixed cities across the nation to develop new strategies for increasing and leveraging private and public investments to accelerate improvements in neighborhoods facing the biggest barriers to better health. My job was to gather a list of resources every week that would be helpful to them, and addressed the relationship between socially determined health and education, food systems, and housing.

NVG assigned this project to me, knowing my interest in social determinants of health. I had not heard of Invest Health prior to my internship, and became excited about working on this project after reading up on the work it does and the field it concentrates in. I am a Public Policy and Global Health major, and have taken a variety of classes focused on social disparities related to health. Being able to apply what I have learned in classes to my project has been rewarding- it is one thing to study a field of work, and it is another thing to contribute to it in a way you deem meaningful.

After gathering lists and lists of resources on social determinants of health and policy suggestions, I came to three conclusions about how to address major problems with social determinants of health. In order to make major change, you need three things: innovation, investment, and community.

In order to solve major issues within a community, one must be prepared to innovate. Small tweaks to the education system can be helpful and can provide clarity, but transformative changes are necessary for a major transform. For instance, we can create better teachers through many avenues, from a focus on education to a higher pay, to creating a culture where teachers are valued. All of those policies require transformative change- not a small tweak. In order to fix a broken system, sometimes you have to build it from the ground up.

One cannot be stingy when looking at issues of health. Take the education example, for instance. All of those changes require funding. Further training teachers, higher pay, creating a culture that values teachers all require monetary assistance and planning in some form or fashion. At the same time, one must be strategic with the money they invest. Throwing money at problems isn’t solving anything.

The most important key one must have to create change is a strong community. A community that bands together from all different parts, whether it be private, public, etc, and works to address a real life issue is a strong community. And that is exactly what Invest Health works to do. The funding it gives to all cities is not used to go toward a specific project, it is used to create a sustainable group from all different factions of a community to come together to address a specific issue within the community. Working together to create change is the most important thing, because innovation and investment will be a result of a strong community.

Invest Health used many of my resources in its newsletter, as well as used many of my resources to inform their own social determinants of health work.