Bay Area Regional Health Inequities Initiative (BARHII)

Motivated by a common desire to significantly reduce the burden of chronic disease and eliminate health inequities, senior leadership from six bay area public health departments came together and formed BARHII. They recognized that the required transformation of public health practice could best be achieved through a regional approach. While there are many examples across the nation of regionalization, most are for the purpose of sharing resources to carry out existing public health mandates. It is rare to have a regional approach to expand the scope of public health practice, especially to take on the scale of activities inherent in a comprehensive prevention campaign to reduce the burden of chronic disease and eliminate health inequities.

The mission of BARHII is to transform public health practice for the purpose of eliminating health inequities using a broad spectrum of approaches that improve community health. Consistent with that mission, BARHII has set the following objectives:

- Train staff on broad spectrum of strategies to improve nutrition and physical activity, and reduce health inequities.
- Develop regional collaborations of public health departments, organizations, coalitions and communities to participate in a comprehensive approach to improve nutrition and physical activity.
- Develop a media advocacy campaign to raise awareness among policy makers and the general public about key issues of nutrition and physical activity, and their link to chronic disease and health inequities.
- Use the regional platform to achieve changes in institutional practices and public policies, and increase support for public health.

Outcomes of this practice include:

- A transformation of local public health department practice.
- Development of a collaborative regional mode.
- Creation of a regional media advocacy campaign.
- Changes in institutional practices and public policies.
- Increased public and official support for public health.