The National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) and the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) recently selected The Community Builders Cincinnati’s (TCB) award-winning Avondale Children Thrive (ACT) Initiative to be part of a national evaluation of the social determinants of health. TCB is receiving $180,000 to measure the impact of its maternal and child health initiative, which ranged from breastfeeding support from health champions (trained resident peer leaders) to capital investments in a neighborhood grocery store. The innovative work will be part of the Improving Social Determinants of Health – Getting Further Faster pilot program.
TCB’s selection will make the ACT initiative part of a national effort to build evidence on resident-led social determinant of health strategies. Focus areas of the retrospective evaluation will include the impact of tobacco-free living and breastfeeding-friendly policies, and environmental enhancements, including access to grocery stores and other infrastructure investments.
