County Health Roadmaps
A healthier nation, county by county

The County Health Rankings provide nearly every county in the nation with data to pinpoint exactly what is making their residents sick or healthy. The County Health Roadmaps builds on the Rankings to spark innovative partnerships and action with and among communities. The County Health Roadmaps – a collaborative effort between the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute (UWPHI) – offers connections and support for local communities and national organizations to take action to improve health.

Roadmaps includes a number of activities designed to work together to ignite action using a variety of supportive strategies, including:

• Providing customized support by phone and in-person and online tools and evidence on what works to improve health
• Sharing stories of successful changes and opportunities for peer learning
• Recognizing and celebrating communities for promising efforts that lead to better health
• Funding health policy initiatives in communities through an annual Call for Proposals, and
• Fostering and supporting partnerships among leaders in business, education, government, and foundations, to improve health, because health is everyone’s responsibility.

Roadmaps to Health Action Center

The Roadmaps to Health Action Center provides strategic guidance based on the Take Action model to communities that want to put the County Health Rankings into action for community health improvement. The Action Center will facilitate peer-to-peer learning, provide online tools and resources for what works to improve health, and capture inspiring stories that illustrate how communities are taking action to improve health for all.

Get inspired: Learn what other communities are doing to take action to improve health in their communities.

Get started: Take Action to improve health in your community.

Get recognized: Tell us what taking action to improve health for all looks like in your community.

Roadmaps to Health Community Grants

The Roadmaps to Health Community Grants are managed by our partner organization, Community Catalyst, and build on the strength of the County Health Rankings. Through an annual Call for Proposals, the Roadmaps to Health Community Grants support work within communities to create healthier places to live, learn, work and play.

Specifically, the Community Grants are aimed at funding initiatives that address the social and economic factors that affect health—factors that have a significant impact on health outcomes, yet are often not accounted for in community health improvement activities. Twelve communities across the United States are the inaugural recipients of Community Grants which support two-year local partnerships among policymakers, business, education, health care, and community organizations working to improve health for their residents.

Roadmaps to Health Prize

The purpose of the Roadmaps to Health Prize is to recognize and honor the efforts and accomplishments of U.S. communities working at the forefront of population health improvement.

The Roadmaps to Health Prize is rooted in the idea that every community is on a unique journey toward health and that communities’ stories of success are as diverse as their populations. Throughout the country, people are coming together with a shared vision, strong leadership, and commitment to improve the health of their communities. This is happening in large urban settings and small rural ones; it’s happening in places with tremendous resources and in places with few resources to draw from; it’s happening in places with relatively few health challenges and in places where the challenges are many and daunting. The invitation to apply for this prize will be extended to all communities throughout the U.S.

Roadmaps to Health Partner Grants

The Roadmaps to Health Partner Grants are aimed increasing awareness of the multiple factors that influence health and engaging local policymakers, businesses, and community leaders in action address these multiple factors. To that end, up to six national organizations will be selected as Roadmaps to Health Partners and asked to develop and provide training and technical assistance for their members, foster learning communities or peer mentoring among members/affiliates, and systematically capture what works and develop case examples of action strategies. United Way Worldwide is the first Roadmaps to Health Partner Grant recipient.