Advocacy is a key aspect of the Alliance mission. At the Alliance, we recognize that the health of our community depends in large part upon the informed and compassionate exercise of our democratic rights as citizens. By engaging in thoughtful dialogue with all members of our community, and by sharing evidence-based conclusions about the influence of public policy, education, and business practices on the health of our community, we each do our necessary part to safely steer the ship of state.
If you’d like to receive our occasional calls for action (letter-writing or other campaigns), please subscribe to our mailing list:
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Walter Cronkite famously observed that “America’s health care system is neither healthy, caring, nor a system.” From its incorporation in 2002, the North Colorado Health Alliance has been dedicated to the reform of this trend. By systematically caring for the health of underserved populations in Weld and Larimer counties, Alliance partner organizations have knit an exemplary safety net.
And yet, significant gaps persist. Extensive studies of individual and population health reveal that only about ten percent of our overall health is directly related to the health care sector of our economy. Of far greater significance to our health are our behaviors as individuals and a myriad of non-medical factors which influence our behavior and contribute to our vulnerability. The World Health Organization (WHO) has defined these non-medical factors as “the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age” and proceeds to assert that “these circumstances are shaped by the distribution of money, power and resources at global, national and local levels.”
The Centers for Disease Control identify the following non-medical factors that determine our community health:
- How a person develops during the first few years of life (early childhood development)
- How much education a persons obtains
- Being able to get and keep a job
- What kind of work a person does
- Having food or being able to get food (food security)
- Having access to health services and the quality of those services
- Housing status
- How much money a person earns
- Discrimination and social support
The North Colorado Health Alliance is committed to reforms in public policy, education, and business practices which aim to address and correct for these social determinants of our health. We believe that social reform and this fuller integration of health will yield the high standard of quality of care, improved health outcomes, and reduced costs that will make us duly proud and prosperous as a community.
If you’d like to receive our occasional calls for action (letter-writing or other campaigns), please subscribe to our mailing list:
Subscribe to our advocacy mailing list!