Priority Issues from a Health Implementation Plan: A Qualitative Study of Local Foundation and Nonprofit Leaders’ Perceptions

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to examine how local leaders of health foundations and nonprofit organizations perceive key health issues (such as violence, housing, and chronic disease) included in a municipal health department’s implementation plan. Specifically, we examine how these leaders prioritize health issues and what their ideas are regarding how to address them. To do this, we used a semistructured interviewing strategy to gather feedback from 10 senior leaders of health foundations and 13 senior leaders of nonprofit agencies in the City of Chicago. We conducted a content analysis of these interviews and found that participants emphasized the importance of addressing broad conditions related to violence, economic development, and education across the lifespan using multisector collaboration strategies. These findings suggest that these foundation and nonprofit representatives consider social determinants of health to be key in promoting population health.