What is a Culture of Health?

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) is committed to improving health and health equity in the United States. In partnership with others, we are committed to taking bold leaps to transform health in our lifetime and paving the way together to a future where health is no longer a privilege but a right. To achieve that vision, we are deepening our focus on dismantling one of the biggest barriers to health in America, structural racism. For more information, visit www.rwjf.org.

About Culture of Health

RWJF envisions an America where we all strive together to build a national Culture of Health—a culture that enables all in our diverse society to lead healthier lives now and for generations to come. 

To learn more about a Culture of Health, we invite you to read Putting our Principles to Work a message from Richard E. Besser, MD, RWJF President and CEO.

Robert Family

Building a Culture of Health: In Our Time

Alonzo Plough, PhD, MPH, chief science officer and vice president of Research, Evaluation and Learning at RWJF, discusses the signature research programs.

RWJF’s Vision for a Culture of Health
Read the RWJF Report "Moving Forward Together"
Visit the Research, Evaluation, and Learning Page

 

Culture of Health Action Framework

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has developed an action framework to encompass the principles underlying the vision for a Culture of Health. This action framework will guide the Foundation’s grant making and strategic collaborations.

As can be seen in the model, a Culture of Health will not be achieved by focusing on each action area alone, but by recognizing the interdependence of each area. Implementing the framework will take time and involve collaboration across multiple sectors - beyond the traditional public health field.

It will call for new norms and expectations, knowledge and capacities, and practices and behaviors. It will require a commitment to equity and multi-cultural perspectives, and force hard choices about how to allocate limited resources in new ways.

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