For the past few years, BACH and its partners in Boston have been engaged in the Mobilizing for Action through Planning and Partnerships (MAPP) community health assessment and community health improvement process. MAPP has been widely used in other communities for health improvement planning, and has been endorsed by the National Association of County and City Health Officials and the Public Health Accreditation Board.

Based on an extensive assessment, which engaged nearly 2,000 individuals across Boston, the following five strategic issues arose as priorities that Boston needs to address in the coming years:

1. How can we achieve racial and ethnic health equity?
2. How can we improve coordination and integration of healthcare and community-based prevention activities/services?
3. How can we build and increase resilience in communities impacted by trauma?
4. How can we improve health outcomes by focusing on education, employment, and transportation policies and practices?
5. How can we increase the number of immigrants, people of color, and other under-represented residents in meaningful leadership roles and decision-making processes?

This spring, stakeholder work groups have developed and refined goals, strategies, and activities for each of the strategic issues to create a community health improvement plan. These goals include the following:

• Public and private institutions will adapt, implement, and enforce comprehensive policies and practices that achieve racial equity and justice
• Improve population health by better integration of health care delivery system with community-based prevention services
• Nurture the natural and existing strengths and resilience of the Boston community to ensure that all residents, regardless of background, have the skills to prevent traumatic events, when possible, and are prepared to cope with traumas and chronic stressors on any scale
• Enhance and build collaborations that consider health in all policies and practices, particularly in the sectors of education, employment, and transportation
• Increase the number of immigrants, people of color, and other underrepresented residents in meaningful and effective leadership roles and decision-making processes.

In late May, BACH and its partners from the five strategic issue work groups gathered to discuss the plan across all five of the issues, to look for convergence of activities and discuss a timeframe for implementation. The group also generated a list of additional agencies and organizations who have a stake in addressing the strategic issues. Currently, BACH and its partners are soliciting feedback on the plan.

BACH and its local public health system partners will continue working to develop and implement action plans for addressing the strategic issues over the next 3-5 years.