Community Resilience

In this fifth volume of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Culture of Health series, Community Resilience: Equitable Practices for an Uncertain Future highlights the importance of resilience, or the set of assets that allow a person or place to recover when adversity hits, by illustrating the policies and stories of lived experience surrounding health equity. Whether that adversity is acute--such as an environmental disaster or an abuse of police power--or chronic--such as that engendered by poverty and racism--local innovation and community engagement are key to nurturing resilience and promoting health equity. Community Resilience positions storytelling and narrative shifts as essential to influencing our perceptions of who deserves empathy or support, and who does not, by examining the systemic barriers to resilience and the opportunities to reshape the landscape to overcome those barriers. The central message of this volume--across immigration or imprisonment, opioids or trauma, housing or disaster preparedness--is that we must act intentionally and allow a shift in power in order to make progress.

Alonzo L. Plough, PhD, MPH, MA, is the chief science officer and vice president of Research-Evaluation-Learning at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Plough has had a distinguished career in public health practice, academia, and philanthropy. His work focuses on improving health and well-being, and achieving health equity. Plough serves as a board member for many health and social welfare organizations.

Table of Contents Introduction SECTION I INTRODUCTION: SHIFTING THE NARRATIVE Chapter 1 - The Storytellers Chapter 2 - Data and Lived Experiences Both Inform Well-Being Chapter 3 - A New Narrative on Gun Violence Chapter 4 - Immigrants in America: Stories of Trauma and Resilience Chapter 5 - The Toxic Impact of Life Behind Bars SECTION II INTRODUCTION: SYSTEMIC BARRIERS TO RESILIENCE Chapter 6 - Responding to the Opioid Epidemic Chapter 7 - Adressing Trauma and Building Resilience in Children: Science and Practice Chapter 7 Spotlight - Texting Through a Crisis Chapter 8 - Home, the Heart of Place SECTION III INTRODUCTION: RESHAPING THE CONDITIONS OF PLACES TO FOSTER RESILIENCE Chapter 9 - Health Care Institutions Step Up to Support Resilient Communities Chapter 10 - Strengthening the Response to Disasters and Trauma Chapter 10 Spotlight - Inland from the Coast Chapter 10 Spotlight - Social Infrastructure as a Pathway to Resilience Chapter 11 - Houston Comes Together After Hurricane Harvey Chapter 11 - Spotlight: Helping Those Who Need It Most Chapter 12 - The Environmental Justice Imperative Chapter 12 Spotlight - Multisolving to Advance Climate Goals SECTION IV INTRODUCTION: ANALYTICAL FRAMEWORKS THAT DRIVE INNOVATION Chapter 13 - Digital Data, Ethical Challenges Chapter 13 Spotlight - The HUMAN Project--Using Mega-Data to Analyze Health Chapter 14 - Investing in Social Determinants: Fresh Perspectives on the Returns Conclusion Acknowledgements Index