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Health in All Policies

Health in All Policies

Health in All Policies is a transformative, collaborative approach to advancing health and health equity. 

Health begins in our homes, schools, neighborhoods, workplaces, communities, and environments. A Health in All Policies (HiAP) approach is a collaborative approach to improving health outcomes by incorporating health and health equity into decision-making across sectors. A HiAP approach aims to ensure all policies have a neutral or beneficial impact on the social drivers of health.
Health in All Policies: Better Policies, Better Health

What is the importance of a Health in All Policies approach? 

Health in All Policies promotes preventative measures by designing policies to prevent health problems before they occur. For instance, policies to improve the walkability of neighborhoods can encourage physical activity and, in turn, reduce the risk of obesity, depression, and other health-related issues. 

Health in All Policies centers health equity to reduce health disparities and close the disparity gap. A HiAP approach routinely examines policies for impacts on health equity to ensure that policies benefit everyone. 

A HiAP approach engages various stakeholders, like state agencies, community members, policy makers, and health advocates to work together, share resources, and collaborate to design policies that address health and health disparities.

A HiAP approach can create and empower stronger and healthier communities in Michigan. 

Collaborative Health-Health in All Policies 

A HiAP approach addresses the root causes of health issues and aims to improve well-being.  

We know our access to reliable transportation, high-quality food, stable employment, strong education, and safe housing impact our health and well-being. 

A HiAP approach looks at decision-making and policy making across sectors with a health and health equity lens to address root cause of issues.

What are the key elements of a HiAP approach? 

  • Support intersectoral collaboration: Engage partners from various sectors and disciplines to strengthen relationships and inform decision-making. 
  • Applies a health equity lens: The HiAP approach holds that equity and health are inextricably linked. In practice, that looks like supporting populations made vulnerable to adverse health outcomes, utilize data to identify and address health disparities, and identify and mitigate barriers to access. 
  • Identify shared goals and co-benefits for multiple partners: Identify 'win-wins' that benefit multiple partners to build support. A HiAP approach should benefit all, including non-health partners.
  • Promote structural change: Reimagine cross-sectoral partnerships and collaboration processes to build sustainability of a HiAP approach

  • As we're thinking about a HiAP approach, we recognize it is about mobilizing relationships and moving upstream in the way we work together. 

    If successful, a HiAP approach addresses the social drivers of health- the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work, and age- that shape our health and well-being. A HiAP approach integrates health considerations with the goal of addressing the social determinants of health, as well as health and health equity. A HiAP approach also considers the wider set of forces and systems that shape the conditions of daily life, factors like racism and discrimination, policies, barriers, and all of the factors that impact the social determinants of health and health outcomes. 

    • Health begins in our homes, schools, neighborhoods, workplaces, communities, and environments. 
    • Health in All Policies is an innovative approach to program development and policy making that encourages collaboration and alignment across health sectors to close health disparities and create healthy, thriving communities. 
    • Health in All Policies helps create a shared vision and shared language for health and health equity across all sectors. 
    • As you think of applying a Health in All Policies framework, consider the following key strategies: 
      • Build multisector collaboration: Convene multisector partners to break down silos and build new partnerships. 
      • Create co-benefits for multiple partners: Identify "co-benefits" and "win-wins," HiAP should benefit multiple partners. 
      • Promote structural change: Reimagine multisectoral partner relationships, decision-making, and collaboration processes to sustain a HiAP approach. 
HiAP

SDOH Roadmap to Healthy Communities: A HiAP Approach in Action

The SDOH Strategy promotes collaboration of resources across multisectoral partners and seeks to bring together partners across the SDOH core domains- housing, food, transportation, and environmental health. 

Implementing a HiAP approach at the state and local level is crucial for fostering healthier communities. By integrating health considerations into policymaking across sectors like housing, food, transportation, and environmental health, governments can address the root causes of health issues. A HiAP approach empowers local and state level leaders to build environments that support well-being and lead to healthier, more resilient communities. 

Read the Roadmap to Healthy Communities

  • Implementing a HiAP approach is one of three priorities of the SDOH Hubs Pilots, a locally led program that utilize a statewide framework, to bring together community members, health care professionals, social service providers, government partners, and business leaders to address social drivers of health and improve health equity. 

    The SDOH Hub Pilots have also implemented a Health in All Policies framework through the Good Housing=Good Health Program. Multisector collaboration is critical to supporting community-led efforts. In partnership with the Michigan State Housing Development Authority, the MDHHS Office of Policy and Planning has established the Good Housing=Good Health Program to increase and promote housing stabilization resources and services across the state. 

    The SDOH Hub Pilots have also implemented a Health in All Policies framework through the Food Delivery Service Program. In March 2024, the MDHHS Office of Policy and Planning and the Food Bank Council of Michigan established the Food Delivery Service Program. This 4-year program seeks to address the barriers faced in food access due to transportation insecurities in Kent and Wayne counties by providing food delivery services to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients in partnership with private retailers and home delivery service providers. 

    A HiAP approach encourages the SDOH Hub pilots to develop program and policy through a health and health equity lens analysis. A HiAP approach allows for tailored solutions that respond to the unique needs and challenges of different communities. 

    Learn more about the SDOH Hub Pilots. 

  • At the state-level, we are implementing a HiAP approach through the SDOH Interagency Workgroup (SDOH-IW). Established in 2022 by the Executive Office of the Governor, the SDOH-IW was formed with the goal of assuring that Michigan residents benefit from coordinated efforts across state agencies to support the social, economic, and health of Michigan communities. A HiAP framework suggests several strategies for shaping decisions adopted by the SDOH-IW: 

    • The SDOH-IW establishes clear communication channels between interdepartmental and intradepartmental partners to regularly discuss policy-related issues. 
    • In total, the SDOH-IW brings together thirteen departments, encouraging interdisciplinary collaborations to facilitate joint projects involving multiple sectors to tackle health challenges collaboratively. 
    • The SDOH-IW provides a standing structure for understanding shared barriers, identify potential opportunities for alignment, and space to share departmental goals, challenges, successes and recommendations. 
    • The SDOH-IW establishes leadership commitment which is crucial for sustaining cross-sector collaboration. 
    • The SDOH-IW prioritizes collective brainstorming opportunities to flow-down findings from the state-level to community-led projects, like the SDOH Hub Pilots, to move towards a community-driven culture of HiAP. 

Want to learn more about Health in All Policies? Check out these resources! 

Health in All Policies A Health in All Policies framework benefits all, including non-health partners, by creating healthier environments, fostering collaboration, and improving outcomes leading to more robust, prosperous, and sustainable communities.