Health
Empowering all Americans to have access to quality healthcare solutions
Advancing Health Equity & Policy
For the National Urban League, health equity means that everyone has a fair and just opportunity to be as healthy as possible. In order to achieve optimal health, barriers to healthy living and well-being need to be addressed. This requires removing obstacles to health, such as poverty, discrimination, and other inequities, and their consequences, including powerlessness and lack of access to good jobs with fair pay, quality education and housing, safe environments, and health care.
Advancing Health Equity through tackling the Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) reduces health disparities and promotes health by empowering Urban League affiliates to create and successfully advocate for health-promoting environments within the communities that they serve. Our policy advocacy strategy ensures that change is implemented and sustained.
2025 Empowerment Goal:
Every American has access to quality and affordable health care solutions
Our Approach
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The National Urban League's Unique Approach to health inequities is rooted in our decades-long commitment to simultaneously addressing multiple social determinants of health (SDOH) for the communities we serve. We have long recognized that the issues that our communities have faced are multi-factorial and complex. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic brought these factors into sharp focus and put a spotlight on issues that have been festering for decades. While the COVID-19 pandemic has increased awareness of how other areas impact health, the National Urban League believes that more should be done to respond to the social determinants of health proactively and to singularly focus on advancing health equity via investments in innovation, policy, programs, and partnership/ coalition-building. Central to our vision of health equity is the fostering of local, statewide, and national collaborations, coalitions, and partnerships. Our strategy addresses this complexity while advancing community agency, voice, and efficacy, deeply rooted in both the assets and day-to-day needs of the individuals and communities that we serve. Individuals and families come to the Urban League to receive advice and support for one aspect of their lives but are welcomed into an array of interconnected services that meet them holistically where they are. This allows the Urban League Movement to deal with the complexity of people’s lives, as no one’s life fits neatly or completely into a single program, no matter how well designed. |
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Our Strategy
The strength of our Affiliate Movement is in its ability to identify and tackle the multiple social determinants of health in the services, supports, and advocacy activities established to improve the health of African Americans and vulnerable urban community members. At the national level, we painstakingly develop a strategy focused on building the capacity of the Affiliate Movement to understand these determinants, develop multisector coalitions to find local solutions, and advocate for policies and programs at the local, state, federal, and institutional levels that create health-promoting environments for our communities.
CAPACITY BUILDING
- Learning Collaboratives
- Vaccine equity
- Community health worker workforce
- Health Equity and Policy Newsletter
MULTI-SECTOR COALITION BUILDING FOR HEALTH EQUITY
Deepening Affiliate Coalition Building and Advocacy
- Elevating partnerships to create, deepen, and grow coalitions
- Expanding and strengthening coalition purpose, goals, and collaborative activities
Ready For Implementation (RFI) Plans
- Creating processes for implementation and sustainability
- Highlighting best practices
Leveraging Affiliate Partnerships in other areas to Advance Health Equity and related policies
The Health Equity Webinar Series
We produce a monthly discussion of topics and issues that impact black communities. Our series focuses on understanding the root causes of health inequities and addressing the social determinants of health. Our goal is to highlight practical and actionable solutions to health disparities in order to advance health equity. Watch all webinars Here.
- Akron Urban League
- Austin Area Urban League
- Buffalo Urban League
- Chicago Urban League
- Columbus Urban League
- Greater Baltimore Urban League
- Greater Milwaukee Urban League
- Greater Phoenix Urban League
- Greater Sacramento Urban League
- Greater Washington Urban League
- Houston Area Urban League
- Indianapolis Urban League
- Knoxville Area Urban League
- Las Vegas Urban League
- Lorain County Urban League
- Louisville Urban League
- Metropolitan Wilmington Urban League
- Mississippi Urban League
- Pinellas County Urban League
- Shenango Valley Urban League
- Springfield Urban League, Inc.
- Urban League of Central Carolinas, Inc.
- Urban League of Greater Atlanta
- Urban League of Greater Cleveland
- Urban League of Greater Hartford
- Urban League of Greater Kansas City
- Urban League of Greater Madison
- Urban League of Greater Oklahoma City
- Urban League of Greater Pittsburgh
- Urban League of Greater Southwestern Ohio
- Urban League of Hampton Roads
- Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle
- Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis
- Urban League of Middle Tennessee
- Urban League of Palm Beach County
- Urban League of Philadelphia
- Urban League of Rochester
- Urban League of Springfield
- Urban League of the Upstate
- Urban League of Westchester
- Urban League of West Michigan
CDC: PARTNERING FOR VACCINE EQUITY
During the COVID-19 Pandemic, the National Urban League and its affiliates were selected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to conduct education about and outreach for the COVID-19 vaccine.
In turn, over the first year of this program, 38 of our affiliates: Had 80,000+ individuals vaccinated against COVID-19, Trained 25,000+ trusted messengers Added 500+ members to their coalitions.
HRSA: COMMUNITY-BASED WORKFORCE TO INCREASE COVID-19 VACCINATIONS
The Health Services Resources Administration awarded the National Urban League a grant to create a community-based workforce comprising of local community health navigators to conduct on-the-ground outreach to provide education, dispel misinformation, and assist communities in accessing the COVID-19 vaccine.
Since the inception of this program in early 2022, six of our affiliates have already: Hired 136 community health navigators Helped provide 12,500+ first vaccines, second vaccines, and booster doses Held over 200,000 conversations between navigators and community members relative to the vaccine
The National Urban League has developed a multi-faceted strategy to change existing health policies and produce new policies that are not tainted with structural racism. Here is our policy approach:
1. Identify health equity national priorities
2. Identify how these priorities manifest in the lives of African Americans
3. Define a strategy for local, statewide & national action
4. Create policy & advocacy plans
