Knowledge to Action

Accelerating Progress in Health, Well-Being, and Equity

Edited by Alonzo L. Plough

Brings together perspectives from an unprecedented group of thinkers and voices, including National Book Award winner Ta-Nehisi Coates, economist Anne Case, and health and social scientist David Williams
An accessible, conversational style makes the ideas discussed-topics such as public health, public policy, climate science, and social inequality-accessible to a wide audience
Holistic, cross-cutting approach to building a Culture of Health
Actionable suggestions for translating the latest research in health services, urban development, education, and climate change into practice

Knowledge to Action

Accelerating Progress in Health, Well-Being, and Equity

Edited by Alonzo L. Plough

Description

AN ESSENTIAL CONVERSATION FROM TODAY'S LEADING VOICES ON EFFECTING CHANGE IN HEALTH AND SOCIETY

"The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has changed the conversation about health in the United States." --Jo Ivey Boufford, President, New York Academy of Medicine

In a society where a person's zip code is a stronger predictor of health status than their genetic profile, every public health challenge is also a challenge of equity, implementation, and policy. For better or worse, improving health requires societal change, and the scale of today's societal challenges can have a stifling effect on even the most well-intended efforts.

Assembled by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and featuring today's most prominent voices from diverse sectors, Knowledge to Action is a collection of short conversations focused on the idea of meaningful change -- its definition, its impediments, and exploring how we can transition from research to action in health, well-being, and equity. Steeped in honesty and benefiting from the diverse experiences of an extraordinary assembly of academics, journalists, policymakers, public health practitioners, and researchers, this book offers provocative yet actionable perspectives that will benefit anyone who reads it.

Knowledge to Action

Accelerating Progress in Health, Well-Being, and Equity

Edited by Alonzo L. Plough

Preface
Alonzo L. Plough

Acknowledgements

I. Accelerating a Culture of Health by Sharing Knowledge and Acting Together

Introduction
Risa Lavizzo-Mourey

II. Views on Understanding Culture, Experience, and Health

1. Fear and Despair: Consequences of Inequity
Anne Case and Ta-Nehisi Coates

2. From Disparity to Equity
David Williams

3. How Americans Value Health
Larry Bye, Dante Chinni, and Alia Crum

III. Pursuing Knowledge with Purpose

4. The Tyranny of Evidence
Rajiv Mehta, Brian Mittman, Karen Pittman, Lisbeth Schorr, and Emily Tanner-Smith

5. Measure the Change You Wish to See in the World
Sarah Burd-Sharps, Bruce Y. Lee, Karen Matsuoka, and Carley Riley

6. The Secrecy Divide: Sharing Data Across Sectors
Heather Joseph, Joshua Sharfstein, and Steven Woolf

7. The Importance of Community-Based Participatory Research
Christopher Gibbons and Consuelo H. Wilkins

IV. Critical Pathways for Systems Change

8. Fostering Healthier Environments for Children and Families
Max Crowley, Ron Haskins, Eboni Howard, and Debra Ness

9. Aligning Systems of Health and Health Care
Manik Bhat, Sherry Glied, Manmeet Kaur, and Rocco Perla

10. Building Healthy Cities
Kate DeSantis, Gil Penalosa, and Ela Rausch

11. Rethinking How We Police Communities
Amanda Geller, John Rich, and Auke van Dijk

12. Climate Change Through a Health Lens
Eric Klinenberg, Sabrina McCormick, and Linda Rudolph

V. Innovating to Build a Culture of Health

13. Public, Private, Nonprofit Partnership: A Case Study of Social Impact Bonds
Chris Ellis, Andrea Phillips, and John Roman

14. Forward in Baltimore: Illuminating the Possible, Achieving the Potential
Lew Daly and Leana Wen

15. A Look Inside RWJF's Approaches
Priya Gandhi and Brian Quinn

VI. Conclusion
Alonzo L. Plough

References

Index

Culture of Health Action Framework

Knowledge to Action

Accelerating Progress in Health, Well-Being, and Equity

Edited by Alonzo L. Plough

Author Information

Alonzo L. Plough, PhD, MPH, MA, is the Chief Science Officer and Vice President of Research-Evaluation-Learning at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Plough has had a distinguished career in public health practice, academia, and philanthropy, previously serving as: an executive leader in the Los Angeles County, Seattle-King County, and Boston Departments of Public Health; Professor of Health Services at the University of Washington School of Public Health; Lecturer at Harvard; Professor at Tufts and Boston Universities; and Vice President of the California Endowment. His work focuses on improving health and well-being, and increasing health equity. Plough also serves as a board member for many health and social welfare organizations.

Contributors:

Manik Bhat
Sarah Burd-Sharps
Larry Bye
Anne Case
Dante Chinni
Ta-Nehisi Coates
Max Crowley
Alia Crum
Lew Daly
Kate DeSantis
Chris Ellis
Priya Gandhi
Amanda Geller
Christopher Gibbons
Sherry Glied
Ron Haskins
Eboni Howard
Heather Joseph
Manmeet Kaur
Eric Klinenberg
Risa Lavizzo-Mourey
Bruce Y. Lee
Karen Matsuoka
Sabrina McCormick
Rajiv Mehta
Brian Mittman
Debra Ness
Gil Penalosa
Rocco Perla
Andrea Phillips
Karen Pittman
Brian Quinn
Ela Rausch
John Rich
Carley Riley
John Roman
Linda Rudolph
Lisbeth Schorr
Joshua Sharfstein
Emily Tanner-Smith
Auke van Dijk
Leana Wen
Consuelo H. Wilkins
David Williams
Steven Woolf

Knowledge to Action

Accelerating Progress in Health, Well-Being, and Equity

Edited by Alonzo L. Plough

From Our Blog

On the physicality of racism

When you talk about how the young boys that I grew up around walked through the world, when you talk about the fact that my brother had made a decision at 13 that he was going to carry a handgun, when you talk about the fact that that wasn't even unusual, you are talking about the physical safety, the danger, the very health of the body. Conversations about race are filled with words and euphemisms to describe the impact of racism on people and communities.

Posted on March 30, 2017

Read the blog post