The Roadmap

Roadmap History

In collaboration with Kaiser Permanente, Health Leads convened a working group of 23 visionaries in 2015 — leaders dedicated to addressing social determinants of health in hospitals, neighborhood clinics and primary care practices across the country. These inaugural meetings resulted in both a shared vision for the future of healthcare delivery in the United States and a commitment to grow the influential, aligned network needed to advance change. 

“In partnership with communities, healthcare organizations should identify and address individuals’ essential needs as an integral part of quality healthcare.” – Roadmap vision statement

In the ensuing months, the working group developed The Essential Needs Roadmap, a framework to guide fellow health and community leaders in establishing or expanding effective social needs initiatives. Today, the Roadmap also serves as a gateway to curated best practices, implementation guidance and other resources focused on building our collective wisdom to better address essential human needs as a standard part of quality care.

The Essential Needs Roadmap is firmly rooted in shared learning, and we commit to improving and strengthening the framework and underlying content over time in partnership with you. Please share your insights and ideas about the Roadmap, or recommend other resources we might share with the field.

Roadmap Contributors

Development of The Essential Needs Roadmap would not have been possible without the sustained support of the Commonwealth Fund and the following individuals and organizations:

Steering Committee