Health Alliance Brings Together Statewide Partners

Across Wisconsin, opportunities to live a long, healthy life are not shared equally by all. Many of Wisconsin's health outcomes lag behind national averages, and the state is home to some of the most extreme health disparities in the nation. In response to this problem, Wisconsin local governments, state agencies, academic partners and nonprofit groups have joined forces to create the Legacy Community Alliance for Health (LCAH). The collaborative was awarded a $1 million Community Impact Grant from the Wisconsin Partnership Program at the UW School of Medicine and Public Health. Through the project, the LCAH aims to improve health and health equity through local government policymaking and programming.

LCAH, which launched in January 2017, is a five-year project to build capacity within participating municipalities to improve health and health equity through the use of data and evidence-informed policies. The goal is to help communities achieve gains in at least one of four policy areas of interest: clean water, active transportation, safe and affordable housing and healthy and affordable local food systems. Each participating community will choose its own policy approach.

Participating communities will be drawn from the Green Tier Legacy Community Network, a coalition of local governments focused on advancing goals around sustainability, equity and economic growth with the support of participating organizations and state agencies. Academic partners under the umbrella of the UW-Madison UniverCity Alliance will support this work with data, research, evaluation and training expertise. These diverse partners are excited to work with local governments in Wisconsin to improve the long-term health of their constituents and communities.

• Academic partners
• Green Tier partners
• Resources