Leveraging State Resources to Create a Culture of Health
From Alaska to Vermont, there is broad recognition across states that improving health and lowering costs requires policymakers to build links between initiatives aimed at reforming the delivery system and those that address factors outside of traditional health care that extend to work, family, and community life.
Implementing this vision challenges states to find new approaches to the traditional financing and delivery of care and services, and to seek answers to questions such as:
- What are promising practices for integrating services given different funding streams, cultures, workforce, and data systems across programs and agencies?
- How are new models financed and what are potential sustainable financing mechanisms? How can Medicaid agencies build a culture of health?
- How can state policy levers advance innovative community models?
- How can states capitalize on the strengths of various agencies and learn from each other to maximize impact?
On October 19, NASHP hosted a preconference in conjunction with its annual state health policy conference designed to facilitate a dialogue among state policymakers across agencies, programs, and branches of government, along with their federal and community partners, on leveraging state policies, financing methods and community innovations to improve population health. The preconference focused on states’ efforts to address health in all policies by integrating public health, social services, and delivery and payment systems, and the partnerships needed to make these strategies successful.
The program featured presentations from state leaders in Minnesota, New York,Oklahoma, Oregon, and Washington; Washington State community partners in King and Chelan-Douglass counties; and national partners including the American Heart Association, Trinity Health, and United Healthcare who discussed emerging approaches and methods along with their challenges and successes.
We invite you to keep an eye out for future products from NASHP on building a culture of health.
For individuals living with complex, often chronic conditions, and their families, palliative care can provide relief from symptoms, improve satisfaction and outcomes, and help address critical mental and spiritual needs during difficult times. Now more than ever, there is growing recognition of the importance of palliative care services for individuals with serious illness, such as advance care planning, pain and symptom management, care coordination, and team-based, multi-disciplinary support. These services can help patients and families cope with the symptoms and stressors of disease, better anticipate and avoid crises, and reduce unnecessary and/or unwanted care. While this model is grounded in evidence that demonstrates improved quality of life, better outcomes, and reduced cost for patients, only a fraction of individuals who could benefit from palliative care receive it. 
