Strategies

Match disadvantaged or at-risk youth with volunteer mentors in school or community settings

Engage professional or lay health workers to provide education, referral and follow-up, case management, home visiting, etc. for those who experience barriers in accessing health care; also called promotoras(es) de salud or community health representatives

Combine academic, mental and physical health, and social service resources in schools for students and families via partnerships with community organizations; also called community learning centers

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

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

Provide rapid access to permanent housing and support (e.g., crisis intervention, needs assessment, case management), usually for chronically homeless individuals with persistent mental illness or substance abuse issues

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

Delay school start times for middle and high schools to better align with adolescent sleep-wake cycles; often until 8:30 a.m. or later

Teach positively stated behavior expectations to all students, often reinforced with prizes or privileges and supported with coaching and data