Transforming Community Health through Leadership (PDF)

As the United States faces increasingly difficult and trenchant public health problems, from the Zika virus to the obesity epidemic to the opioid crisis, population health is a growing area of concern for public health organizations, particularly how to care for populations effectively on a shoestring budget. Though little discussed in the mainstream media, community health improvement organizations are increasingly partnering and forming coalitions with local hospitals, working together to improve traditional medical care. But with the pace of change in health care policy, these coalitions must be thoughtfully lead and managed. This new book from John W. Moran, Senior Quality Advisor to the Public Health Foundation, demonstrates how to build, operate, manage, and sustain a community health improvement coalition once it is formed.

Offering the reader practical examples and guidance on forming and sustaining a community health coalition, this book demonstrates the ways in which the success of a coalition depends upon a stable anchor organization and a committed leader. Chapters focus on each of these roles and how to achieve success in each: examining what needs improvement, why it is important to improve now, how it will be done, and where in the community improvement can have the most impact. The last chapter offers a case study exploring a community health coalition and leader to illustrate application of the concepts introduced throughout the book. Transforming Community Health through Leadership is designed specifically to prepare governmental public health, health care, and community leaders to take advantage of the ever-changing landscape of public health and health care in concrete ways to improve population health.