Date Posted: 06.21.2021
Press Release
Mithun has launched the Centering Health Equity (CHE) beta frameworks in collaboration with the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and University of Virginia School of Medicine’s Green Health Partnership. The Centering Health Equity project aims to set a course towards stronger communities and thriving businesses by centering health equity in built environment, real estate and infrastructure projects.
The Centering Health Equity frameworks offer guidance for practitioners across multi-sector fields to improve project delivery and operational efficiencies toward triple-bottom line success. They are the product of a collaborative effort with more than sixty professional peers that began in April 2020, spurred by the compounding impacts of COVID-19, economic, social justice and climate crises.
“Health equity—equitable access to the social, economic and environmental determinants of health and well-being—does not occur by chance,” says Dr. Chris Pyke, senior vice president for product at ArcSkoru. “It is the product of a systematic approach to health promotion rooted in science and informed by community engagement and data. The new Centering Health Equity framework gives practitioners a practical tool to guide these crucial efforts and make a real difference on the ground.”
The beta CHE Frameworks publication includes insights into the business imperative for health equity; a Conceptual Framework that highlights the relationships between places, health, and wealth; a beta Action Framework of process improvement strategies and supporting tools and resources; and case studies breaking down pivotal decisions that challenge conventional practice and center health equity.
“We look at real estate as a bridge to the community, so part of our core strategy is to create healthy neighborhoods,” says Joe Ritchie, director at Tishman Speyer, in one of the case studies. “We do this because it is the right thing to do, and because healthy neighborhoods enhance the value of our holdings.”
The multidisciplinary Centering Health Equity project team is led by Mithun partner Erin Christensen Ishizaki and USGBC director of health research Kelly Worden, together with Mithun designers Emma O’Connor-Brooks, McKayla Dunfey and Robinick Fernandez, and Green Health Partnership re-searchers Matthew Trowbridge, M.D. and Alexandra Hopkins.
In the spirit of the project’s open-source nature, the team invites practitioners across the industry to join in a community of practice to test out the beta framework, lift up project examples, and continue to refine the frameworks.
Mithun teams and clients are actively exploring the beta Frameworks. Project teams and potential partners that are interested in embedding health equity in their work are encouraged to reach out for help starting the process.
