Washington Health Choices: Taking the Pulse of the Community
HumanLinks Foundation's Health Strategy

HumanLinks Foundation, through its Health Strategy, empowers people of the state of Washington to give voice to their values and priorities for the health and healthcare in their communities.

Our strategy:

• Engages the community in dialogue.
• Sparks strategies for improvement.
• Forms collaborative partnerships for action.
• Helps communities gain their voice on this essential, quality of life issue.

Since 1999 Humanlinks Foundation's health care strategies have included:

• A pilot project in East King County, Washington to develop and test a replicable model for civic engagement on health and health care. To review the findings of this pilot, Washington Health Choices: Taking the Pulse of the Community, click on the link below.
  Washington Health Choices: Taking the Pulse of the Community, Pilot Program
• Replication of the Washington Health Choices model in local communities around the state. The report summarizing these findings is available by following the link below.
  Washington Health Choices: Taking the Pulse of the Community

• Presentation of Washington Health Choices: Taking the Pulse of the Community report and findings to key health policy experts and all members of the Washington legislature as well as to each of our community partners. Many have already indicated that that are infusing this summary of community voice into their policy deliberations.
• Creation of a web-based communication tool for use by our community partners and others in the state working on systems change.
• Funding an innovative pilot project with the Health Improvement Partnership, Spokane, Washington, to focus on wellness and prevention behavior changes with uninsured, at-risk families.
• Supporting efforts to engage both traditional and nontraditional collaboration to close the disparity gap in health access and health status for communities of diversity in Washington State.