Six communities across Texas are implementing an Accountable Community for Health (ACH) framework. These multi-sector partnerships aim to address the root causes of poor health in their communities.
Austin Rundberg
The Austin Rundberg area is a neighborhood located in the City of Austin bounded by I-35 and Mopac. The backbone organization is Go Austin/Vamos Austin (GAVA), a community-driven and resident-led nonprofit committed to breaking down barriers to healthy living and strengthening neighborhood stability. Through TACHI, GAVA and partners are striving to eliminate health inequities in the Rundberg area by addressing the upstream drivers of health such as economic stability, housing, and food access—factors further exacerbated by the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bastrop County
The mission of the Bastrop County Accountable Communities for Health (BCACH) is to engage county partners in addressing the social determinants and influences of health. This mission embodies and promotes the values of equity, inclusion, respect, trust, courage and kindness which together provide the guideposts for improving the health and well-being of Bastrop County residents. The overarching goal for BCACH is to improve health by increasing economic security. The BCACH portfolio of interventions is organized around the goal that all working age individuals will have opportunities to access workforce training and the support they need to complete the training, and access to in-demand careers that lead to financial security and greater lifelong health.
Brazos Valley
Brazos Healthy Communities, through a Care Coordination Model utilizing Community Health Workers, seeks to visit clients in their homes, support the coordination of care, coach and support clients to learn new skills, get access to needed services, and make vital behavioral changes to improve their health and social outcomes. Brazos Valley is a seven-county region in Central Texas anchored around Brazos County which is home to the cities of College Station and Bryan. Texas A&M Health Science Center will serve as the backbone organization for this collaborative and the current partners include CHI St. Joseph Regional Health System, HealthPoint, and Project Unity.
Greater Northside – Houston
Communities Y Salud Greater Northside is a collaborative of cross-sector and community partners working to achieve a healthy, safe, and connected Greater Northside for all. Greater Northside comprises the Near Northside and Northline neighborhoods located north of downtown Houston. Avenue Community Development Corporation (Avenue CDC), an affordable housing and community development nonprofit, serves as the backbone organization. Avenue CDC is working alongside partners including Legacy Community Health, Memorial Hermann Health System, Wesley Community Center, and the YMCA. Together, the partners are striving to achieve a healthier Greater Northside by aligning their initiatives to improve access to healthy foods, active living, and access to health care.
Greater Longview Optimal Wellness – Gregg County
Longview is a city located in East Texas and serves as the county seat for Gregg County. The City of Longview serves as the backbone organization for this TACHI site along with the following local partners: Longview Regional Medical Center, CHRISTUS Good Shepherd Health System, Community Healthcore, Gregg County, the United Way, and Special Health Resources. The TACHI site in Longview identified a need to assist individuals with complex social needs who were frequent users of the 911 system for non-emergent assistance. Through collaboration with the Greater Longview Optimal Wellness (GLOW) partners and wide-spread community support, the team has built a system to identify those citizens in greatest need of assistance and stability with their social determinants of health by evaluating their utilization of emergency services for non-emergent purposes, and will provide the necessary interventions to assist them in moving to better overall health via referrals to community resources.
Williamson County
The Williamson County ACH, seeks to improve opportunities for health and well-being across key health equity zones in the county. The first initiative of the ACH is to strengthen community and clinical connections by building an infrastructure of community health workers using the Pathways Community HUB evidence-based model. These community health workers will provide a trust-based relational framework for addressing non-medical health drivers of health and connecting families to medical resources and social services. Individual outcomes, health risk mitigation and social service referrals data will be used by the ACH to inform any future projects and policy work in the county.