TROY, Mich. – The Institute for Alternative Futures is soliciting cases from community health centers that demonstrate how they are leveraging the social determinants of health to improve individual and population health in their communities, says David D. Fukuzawa, director of The Kresge Foundation's Health Program.

Case examples may include partnerships or collaborations focused on addressing jobs, education, housing, and other social, environmental, and economic factors that affect patients' health in communities.

The institute will catalog the findings of select cases in order to gain insight into the methods and outcomes of health-care providers' efforts to change community conditions that contribute to poor health.

Once its analysis is complete, the institute will formulate principles for integrating the most effective intervention activities into the nation's health-care system.

Kresge awarded the Institute for Alternative Futures a one-year, $260,000 grant in November 2010 to support the multiphase project.

"At Kresge, we now have a clearly defined focus on health equity," explains Fukuzawa. "We are working to reduce the effects of pollution and toxins on vulnerable communities and to address other policy and environmental issues adversely affecting disadvantaged and low-income populations. The case statements will fill important gaps in our knowledge about the effectiveness of these interventions and lead to new ways of helping communities become healthier places to live."

The Institute for Alternative Futures, co-founded by noted futurist Alvin Toffler, is a nonprofit research and education organization based in Alexandria, Virginia.

Learn how to submit a case or nominate a community health center.

If you have questions, e-mail our Grants Inquiry Coordinator or call 248-643-9630.