A Broad View of Health

Social, economic, and environmental factors contribute to health as much as clinical care and health-related behaviors. Thus, GHPC takes a broad view of health, examining all systems, policies, and upstream factors influencing well-being, and looks for inclusive, cross-sector, and transformative solutions to achieve health and well-being.

“For more than 25 years, the GHPC has consistently taken a broad view of health,” says Karen Minyard, GHPC’s CEO. “Across hundreds of, national, state, and local projects, we have built an understanding of the impact of broader social issues such as housing, transportation, food access, education, and economic opportunity on health and well-being.”

Health and Opportunity for All

GHPC’s work has been built on improving access to health care, identifying the root causes of disparities, and addressing health from a systemic perspective. The center recognizes that advancing health and well-being cannot happen in isolation, but requires tackling entrenched, systemic barriers outside of traditional health care.

What are the systems, the policies, the mindsets, and patterns of behavior that are contributing to inequities in the burden of disease and health outcomes?

To understand these root causes, GHPC is examining the full spectrum of barriers preventing individuals and communities from achieving their best health and is facilitating conversations to enable consensus building around sustainable, systemic solutions.

Neutrality

For more than 25 years, GHPC has been a valued partner in the state and throughout the nation by upholding its core values of adhering to commitments, building trusted personal relationships, committing to learning and innovating, and above all else, serving as an honest, credible, and reliable thought partner. This is rooted in the GHPC way of

• Advocating for an approach to problems, rather than specific solutions
• Building and valuing relationships
• Creating the right environment for important conversations
• Providing objective and relevant information

“If you align yourself with a political party or a particular solution, you lose everybody else. So we

have been very steadfast not just in our neutrality, but in focusing on our support of excellence in government and practice,” says Karen Minyard, GHPC’s CEO. “To support excellence, you meet policymakers where they are, you understand their concerns, and you help them do their best. We value having this trusted relationship where we give every bit of good information we have, even if that contradicts current perceptions. It is about providing evidence for excellence, giving them the best of what we have, and then sitting back.”