The Health Action Plan offers affordable housing developers a process to integrate health into the design and development or rehabilitation of their housing based on the most significant health needs of their residents. This innovative process pairs affordable housing developers with public health professionals to prioritize the health needs of their community through data analysis and community engagement. The Health Action Plan was originally developed by Enterprise, in partnership with USGBC and The Health Impact Project, as part of the 2015 Enterprise Green Communities Criteria (Criterion 1.2b) and was updated with the support of a group of practitioners with experience developing a Health Action Plan for the 2020 Enterprise Green Communities Criteria (Criterion 1.5).
Since the development of the Health Action Plan, we’ve performed a pilot evaluation of the process, Health Action Plan Pilot Process Evaluation Report, with five affordable housing developers from across the country (Shelter Force, HUD's Cityscape). Through the evaluation, we found that all developers deepened their understanding of how the built environment can impact health. The partnership with the public health professional and community engagement were cited as the most critical steps. And, we’ve integrated the Health Action Plan within the Housing for Health Fund, a unique partnership between Kaiser Permanente and Enterprise to preserve affordable homes in the Bay Area. This fund models how innovative health solutions, such as the Health Action Plan, can be paid for, scaled, and evaluated through more traditional affordable housing financing mechanisms to center the health of residents in affordable housing and encourage more investment from health care organizations.
The Seven Steps of the Health Action Plan
The Health Action Plan offers affordable housing developers a structured, yet flexible, evidence-based process for embedding health-promoting features that align with the resident and community member’s priority health needs into the design of their construction projects.
Review The Impact of the Steps and Strategies of the Health Action Plan for the evidence-base behind the seven steps of the Health Action Plan.
Tools and Resources to Support the Health Action Plan
Looking for support as you move forward?
- Start with our Health Action Plan Template, which is part of Enterprise Green Communities.
- Take a look at our guide for considering how to use the Health Action Plan framework to promote resident health outcomes in affordable housing policy.
- Select from these resources that align with each step of the process:
- Partner: Technical Assistance Provider Registry
- Collect and Analyze: Guidance on Selecting Indicators Template
- Engage: Community Engagement while Social Distancing, Resident Flyer, Focus Group Guide
- Identify and Select Strategies: Prioritization Exercise, Template
- Monitor: Healthy Housing Outcomes Survey
Ready to Get Started?
Enterprise can provide technical assistance to affordable housing developers interested in the Health Action Plan in finding a qualified public health partner, developing a scope of work, and hosting a virtual kick-off meeting. Please reach out to Mary Ayala or Krista Egger for more support.
