Skip to main content
Home
  • About Alignment
    • What Is Cross-Sector Alignment?
    • RWJF’s Approach
    • Glossary
  • Our Work
    • About RWJF
    • Related Programs
    • Aligning Systems for Health
    • Aligning in Crisis
  • From the Field
    • Resource Library
  • Get Involved
    • Virtual Event Series
    • Related Events
    • Subscribe
    • Contact Us
Back to ResourcesBack to Resources
Aligning In Action: Healthy Homes Des Moines
Case Study

Aligning in Action: Healthy Homes Des Moines

View Case Study

This case study examines Healthy Homes Des Moines, a pilot program to provide home remediation and health education to reduce the burden of childhood asthma. The goal of the pilot was to demonstrate the value of an upstream intervention to the community and to health care providers. The pilot specifically targeted pediatric asthma, for which an estimated four in 10 cases is attributable to exposures in the home (e.g., mold, mildew, indoor allergens, pest infestations).

When funding for a pilot through the BUILD Health Challenge emerged, the Polk County Health Department, the Mid-Iowa Health Foundation, and the Polk County Housing Trust Fund jumped at the opportunity. They knew from community health data already collected that instances of pediatric asthma were higher in lower income neighborhoods where county housing records showed a large number of homes categorized as “poor condition.” The partners knew environmental remediation of those homes could demonstrate the value of upstream interventions and improve health of low-income residents.

While there was meaningful partnership between health care, public health, and the housing community, the initiative is now inactive as it restructures around sustainable funding. While not yet achieving the success that partners believe it can, this cross-sector initiative provides an instructive example on the importance of having the right people at the table, particularly those with a financial interest in the success of the program.

Aligning Systems for Health: Health Care + Public Health + Social Services, supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and managed by the Georgia Health Policy Center, 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.

Components of Alignment

Data Icon Data
Financing Icon Financing
Governance Icon Governance
Shared Purpose Icon Shared Purpose

Author Organization

Aligning Systems for Health

Publication Date

06.01.2020

Topic Area

Chronic Disease
Health Care
Medicaid
Public Health
Social Needs
Brief

Intermediary Organizations Are Urgently Needed to Assist in Modernizing Public Health and Addressing the Drivers of Health in the United States

This issue brief describes the different roles intermediaries can play; provides examples of where they have been used in practice; and identifies the risks, benefits, and possible innovations of intermediaries as well as policy approaches that might facilitate their appropriate use.

Publication

“More Than Just Giving Them a Piece of Paper”: Interviews with Primary Care on Social Needs Referrals to Community-Based Organizations

This publication characterizes referrals to community-based organizations by primary care practices, which are increasingly being used by healthcare organizations to invest in social care.

Publication

Revising the Foundational Public Health Services in 2022

This publication provides a framework outlining the unique responsibilities of governmental public health and can be used to explain the vital role of governmental public health in a thriving community; identify capacity and resource gaps; determine the cost for assuring foundational activities; and justify funding needs

  • Contact Us
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
© 2022 RWJF