An inside look at partnerships between community-based organizations and health care providers

As recognition of the critical role that social determinants play in health and quality of life has grown, partnerships between health care and human service organizations to address them are proliferating. Little is known, however, about the factors that contribute to the success of those partnerships, or their prevailing challenges — important insights for organizations considering whether and how to collaborate.

With support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Partnership for Healthy Outcomes: Bridging Community-Based Human Services and Health Care is shedding light on this area of opportunity. Led by Nonprofit Finance Fund, the Center for Health Care Strategies (CHCS), and the Alliance for Strong Families and Communities, this initiative examined lessons from 200 cross-sector collaborations that serve low-income and other vulnerable populations, identified through a national Request for Information.