The Catholic Health Association and Health Care Without Harm have released a booklet that encourages healthcare leaders to engage and partner with individuals, organizations, and communities to improve community health by addressing environmental factors outside the hospitals walls instead of just within. Acknowledging that poor environmental quality adversely impacts vulnerable populations already at high risk for bad health, this publication argues that strategic environmental health programs can help reduce inequities in health, particularly in underserved communities. The booklet offers detailed steps and strategies for integrating programs that address environmental health with broader community benefits compliance efforts.
This policy primer from Shareable and the Sustainable Economies Law Center catalogues innovative local policies that city governments have used to help residents share resources, co-produce, and create their own jobs. Focusing on food, housing, transportation, and job sharing, this guide is intended to help cities build community wealth and develop more resilient and democratic local economies. More broadly, the sharing economy highlights how governments can structure infrastructure, services, incentives, and regulations to support this new economy.
A new report from the Hitachi Foundation highlights policies and practices that improve wages and employee loyalty while also boosting competitiveness and profits. Titled Doing Well and Doing Good, this report profiles 14 healthcare and manufacturing companies (out of 90 identified) that have implemented innovative workforce strategies that help workers gain skills, retain and/or advance their jobs, and generate greater value. Calling these companies “pioneer employers,” this report identifies that they all share a common vision and ability to reorganize and engage workers toward key business goals, including: innovating new products and processes, raising product or service quality, reaching new markets, and increasing productivity.
