Addressing the Social Determinants of Health through the Alameda County, California, Place Matters Policy Initiative

In Alameda County, California, significant health inequities by race/ethnicity, income, and place persist. Many of the county's low-income residents and residents of color live in communities that have faced historical and current disinvestment through public policies. This disinvestment affects community conditions such as access to economic opportunities, well-maintained and affordable housing, high-quality schools, healthy food, safe parks, and clean water and air. These community conditions greatly affect health. At the invitation of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies' national Place Matters initiative, Alameda County Supervisor Keith Carson's Office and the Alameda County Public Health Department launched Alameda County Place Matters, an initiative that addresses community conditions through local policy change.

The goal of the Place Matters initiative is to improve the health of participating communities by “addressing social conditions that lead to poor health” through “identifying the complex root causes of health disparities and defining strategies to address them.”

AC Place Matters has identified 10 best practices that could help other programs address social determinants of health: find and foster strong leadership, dedicate staff resources to the work, engage staff from across the local health department, contribute to building grassroots power, address root causes, partner with community organizations and leaders, partner with government institutions across sectors, work reactively and proactively, build capacity, and use tools that ensure a focus on health equity.

AC Place Matters has achieved a number of policy successes, including a water shutoff moratorium for foreclosed rental housing, a proactive approach to rental inspection to prevent unsafe housing conditions, and a truancy court partnership that improved attendance among students with chronic health conditions.