Strategies

Involve consumers in health care governance via roles on governing boards, advisory committees, or shorter-term special projects

Offer debt advice from trained providers to tenants with unpaid, overdue rent to help repay debt and increase financial literacy

Position registered nurses within a parish or similar faith community, or in a health care system to serve as a liaison to congregations; also called parish nursing or congregational nursing

Provide education on basic budgeting, bank use, credit management, bankruptcy, credit building and counseling, homeownership, retirement, divorce, etc.

Expand incentives such as scholarships and loans with service requirements and loan repayment or forgiveness programs for health care providers who practice in rural or other underserved areas

Provide prenatal care in a group setting, integrating health assessment, education, and support

Increase patients’ health-related knowledge via efforts to simplify health education materials, improve patient-provider communication, and increase overall literacy

Offer programs to help individuals without a high school diploma or its equivalent achieve a high school equivalency credential

Inform parents and caregivers about lead exposure pathways from contaminated dust, soil, water, and air as well as the irreversible health consequences of lead exposure

Apologize for discriminatory housing policies; increase subsidies, financing, and paths to homeownership for people of color; and invest in systematically disadvantaged neighborhoods