New Trails Navigators and Roots Community Health Center: Putting equity into practice through workforce development

As we wrote in the Blueprint for Complex Care, effective complex care must be equitable. This means addressing the consequences of poverty, racism, and other systemic issues by partnering with individuals with complex needs and their communities — both in identifying barriers and in developing solutions.

Two exciting initiatives, one a brand new startup in Seattle and the other housed in a community health center in Oakland, are doing exactly that. Their workforce development programs not only provide opportunity for vulnerable individuals, but also recognize the critical expertise that these individuals bring to the care team. By thinking beyond the traditional healthcare model, they hope to transform not only individuals’ lives, but entire healthcare systems and communities.