FOCUS AREAS

Healthcare

The path to a lifetime of health and well-being begins before birth and continues across milestones and systems—from school to work, sickness to health, and the essential connections in between.

Why Illinois

In Illinois, as in other U.S. states, we understand that inequities in health outcomes are caused by longstanding, systemic challenges. Through decades of policy, advocacy, and community organizing work, we are now seeing how governments and systems of care can evolve to support the health of every Illinois resident.

Our Work

IPHI’s cross-sector collaborations start within the communities most affected by health inequity. In all our work, we focus on building and sustaining systems that prevent disease and disability and promote well-being.

Chronic Disease Prevention and Management

IPHI convenes the Illinois Alliance to Promote Opportunities for Health (IAPOH), a multi-sector coalition working to address nutrition, physical activity, and chronic health conditions in Illinois. Through a wide range of initiatives, IAPOH advances local and state-level policies and increases the capacity of community-based organizations to prevent chronic disease.

IPHI also champions policies and systems that expand access to evidenced-based diabetes prevention and management programs in communities across Chicago, Cook County, and Illinois. IPHI advocated for Medicaid coverage for these programs and now helps local communities build capacity to implement them.

Reproductive and Birth Justice

IPHI is helping to develop and implement a comprehensive reproductive and birth justice strategy in Illinois to address persistent inequalities in reproductive outcomes. The strategy will be grounded in policy and systems change, community voice, and health equity. Through this work we are moving towards a coordinated and sustainable care system that centers autonomy, quality, and choice.

Breastfeeding Support

IPHI has worked with partners across the state to advance institutional policies, systems, and programs that support breastfeeding continuity of care and equity. Through a CDC-funded State Physical Activity and Nutrition Program and funding from the Illinois Department of Public Health, we are helping state and regional systems engage and sustain lactation support providers and improve awareness of and access to lactation support.

people sitting around table at Systems in Sync

Healthcare Systems Design

Through IPHI’s work with Trinity Health Systems, we have helped identify and address health inequities in Fresno, California; Wilmington, Delaware; and Waterbury, Connecticut. In these communities and others, we work across sectors to understand how proposed policies would impact health outcomes and develop the best path toward implementation.

The Alliance for Health Equity Mental Health Working Group’s Systems in Sync initiative focuses on building and supporting collaboration and partnership among behavioral health-related organizations and institutions in Chicago and Suburban Cook County, with a goal of bridging gaps and maximizing impact.

Alliance for Health Equity

The Alliance for Health Equity is a collaboration between the Illinois Public Health Institute and area hospitals, health departments, and community organizations across Chicago and Cook County. The Alliance identifies pressing public health concerns through the Community Health Needs Assessment—a collaborative approach to assessment designed on behalf of more than 30 hospitals and implemented across the county. Drawing on assessment findings, the Alliance then develops action plans, using a collective impact model to coordinate responses.