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Health Equity in Northern Virginia

Health Equity in Northern Virginia

With support from the Northern Virginia Health Foundation, the Center has completed many projects focused on gaps in life expectancy across census tracts, as well as the roots of those gaps, in the Northern Virginia / D.C. Metro area. Read our latest report, Lost Opportunities: The Persistence of Disadvantaged Neighborhoods in Northern Virginia. 

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Learning from the COVID-19 Pandemic

Learning from the COVID-19 Pandemic

To better understand public perception of issues surrounding place-based determinants of health, and identify possible communications opportunities to raise the profile of the importance of place-based determinants, the Center conducted a series of focus groups for the Nova Institute for Health. 

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The Healthy Places Index

The Healthy Places Index

Everyone should have the opportunity to live a healthy life. The Healthy Places Index combines community characteristics into a single indexed HPI Score, produced at the neighborhood level. These HPI scores can be compared across neighborhoods to paint an overall picture of health and well-being in each community. Read more below about how the HPI was applied to different communities around the country. 

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Measuring Mental Health with the Behavioral Health Index (BHI)

Measuring Mental Health with the Behavioral Health Index (BHI)

In 2019, the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services funded the Center on Society and Health to produce an index that estimates the need for behavioral health services in local populations served by the state’s 40 Community Service Board (CSB) districts. 

 

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Center Study Examines Excess Deaths from COVID and Other Causes

Center Study Examines Excess Deaths from COVID and Other Causes

The number of deaths from COVID-19 reported in the news during since March may be underestimating the pandemic's actual death toll. From March 1st, 2020 to January 2nd, 2021, the United States saw 522,368 excess deaths, but only 72% of those were attributed to COVID-19. The other 28% were linked to other causes such as heart disease, diabetes, and Alzheimer's disease.

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Health Opportunity and Equity (HOPE) Initiative

Health Opportunity and Equity (HOPE) Initiative

A project, led by the National Collaborative for Health Equity, to develop a resource to chart progress towards health equity at the national, state, and local level. As part of this project, the Center is providing data and research support for the Texas Health Institute.

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The Health of the States

The Health of the States

A collaboration with the Urban Institute, the project is a detailed analysis comparing states on dozens of health measures and examining connections between 39 health outcomes and 123 drivers of health across five domains: health systems, health behaviors, socioeconomic conditions, the environment, and public policies and spending. Findings were published in a series of reports.

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Mapping Life Expectancy

Mapping Life Expectancy

Media-friendly maps depicting dramatic differences in life expectancy across small distances in U.S. cities and rural areas. Building on an earlier set of five maps released for the RWJF Commission to Build a Healthier America, the Center produced maps for 21 additional cities and rural areas across the country, including New York City; Richmond, VA; Chicago; Philadelphia; Tulsa, OK; and Detroit. Maps were released throughout 2015 and 2016.

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Richmond Health Equity Report

Richmond Health Equity Report

A report examining social determinants of health in metropolitan Richmond, utilizing data from a variety of sources, and including findings from research conducted by Engaging Richmond. The report was released in April, 2016.

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educationhealth

Education and Health Initiative

A research and outreach effort to raise awareness about the association between education and health among policymakers and stakeholders in national, state, and local settings. Related resources include issue briefs, videos, and online data about the health and economic implications of educational attainment.

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Engaging Richmond

Engaging Richmond

A community-academic partnership based in Richmond's East End, employing mixed methods research to explore the social and environmental factors that influence health. 

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Healthy Communities for Youth

Healthy Communities for Youth

Healthy Communities for Youth is a community-based intervention that focuses on youth violence prevention and education with at-risk neighborhoods within Richmond. 

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Charting a Course for an Equity-Centered Data System

The COVID-19 pandemic laid bare the many gaps in today’s public health and health data infrastructure, particularly in regards to people of color and other marginalized populations, and it showed us the many ways in which these challenges perpetuate health inequities. To work towards better health data systems, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation established the National Commission to Transform Public Health Data Systems. 

 

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The Archive

The Archive

Past projects (2007-2020) including work under our former name, the VCU Center on Human Needs.

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