It has been said that your ZIP code may be more important for your health than your genetic code. This is because factors known as the social determinants of health (such as housing, education, job opportunities, child care, and transportation) can greatly influence your chances of becoming sick and dying early.
The mission of La Clínica de La Raza is to improve the quality of life of diverse communities we serve by providing culturally appropriate, high quality accessible health care for all. La Clínica has provided health services to underserved communities since 1971 and currently serves residents of Alameda, Contra Costa and Solano Counties.
But health care delivery drives only 20 percent of health outcomes, with behavioral and social determinants playing a much bigger role in overall health. The growing recognition among policymakers that integrating health care with social supports and services is critical to improving broad population health, advancing health equity, and reducing health care spending.
At La Clínica, we believe that your address should not limit your opportunities to be healthy. That is why the social determinants of health have been an ever-present theme in the approach and delivery of our services since the beginning. Our team of clinicians, social workers, behavioral health specialists and outreach workers go beyond traditional medical care and reach out to the community in ways that impact the social determinants of health for the many families we serve.
La Clínica has long recognized the connections between poverty, place, and health and is at the forefront of the growing movement that is tackling these issues in innovative ways by connecting two sectors—community development and health. Until now, these sectors have worked in relative isolation from each other. As community development has placed more emphasis on people and as the health sector has increasingly recognized the importance of place, these sectors have come further into alignment.
La Clínica’s 2016 Annual Report highlights La Clínica’s programs and initiatives that connect the dots between neighborhood conditions and health to meet the unique needs of lowincome communities and to improve the lives of the people living in them. Building on this momentum, we intend to leverage decades of research and work to forge connections and continue to hone the comprehensive approaches necessary to address the challenging, complex, and interconnected issues of reducing poverty, stabilizing communities, and improving health for all.