Thriving Together North Central Washington (NCW), one of nine Accountable Communities of Health in Washington State, has evolved from an organization with a single focus on Medicaid Transformation to a growing network with a shared, measurable goal of all people and places thriving together—no exceptions. Thriving Together NCW has partnered with IP3 to support a deeper understanding and measurement of the vital conditions that set the stage for residents thriving, struggling, or suffering.
NCW was originally funded through the Accountable Health Communities Model, which provided federal funding to address a critical gap between clinical care and community services in the healthcare delivery system by identifying and addressing the health-related social needs of Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries through screening, referral, and community navigation services. With the end of the Medicaid waiver approaching in 2020, the Board adopted a revised mission statement, launched a strategy workgroup, and broadened its network and scope of work to focus on whole person health and health equity for all residents of NCW.
As a network, Thriving Together NCW recognizes that no single agency or program can meet all the intertwined social and health-related needs across their region. In response, they are developing a Vital Conditions Network to invest in upstream solutions to complement the region’s existing urgent services infrastructure—things like urgent care clinics, food pantries, and homeless shelters. They recognize that urgent services alone cannot create well-being for those who call the region home.
To build a future of thriving people and places, Thriving Together NCW acts together with a commitment to distributed leadership and a belief that power grows when it is shared. The network uses three change levers:
Convene diverse partners for shared understanding, learning, and action
Understand and explore the science of thriving together
Learn about and extend the Vital Conditions framework and language across the region
Create new narratives about what is possible, lifting up stories and examples of bright spots in the region
2. Measure and track well-being
Listen to and learn from local communities to identify meaningful indicators
Measure community wellbeing to track progress toward the network vision
Ensure that well-being data are accessible, credible, and actionable
Support and complement existing data dashboards and community needs assessments
Be guided by community experiences and aspirations for well-being
3. Identify and advance opportunities for collective action
Contribute to and champion the network’s capacities to strengthen the vital conditions throughout the region
Balance priorities and investments in the vital conditions (upstream) with investments in urgent services (downstream)
Connect local efforts and surface shared priorities to support sustainable action across the region
IP3 supports their work to measure and track well-being and understand current conditions in the region through access to the Vital Conditions framework within IP3 ASSESS. The platform supports a regional understanding of community data in context and builds shared language for acting together. Thriving Together NCW has developed a series of seven IP3 ASSESS reports embedded on their website and designed to explore and share local data to inform community change—each dedicated to a vital condition for well-being.
These interactive IP3 ASSESS reports serve as data dashboards and include a vital condition domain widget (e.g., humane housing, belonging and civic muscle), select data indicators of interest, and stories of community assets, voices, and solutions ready to be spread.
About Thriving Together NCW:
Thriving Together NCW serves the North Central region of Washington, consisting of Chelan, Douglas, Grant, and Okanogan counties, as well as the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation. The four county region covers nearly 13,000 square miles with a total population of just over 250,000.
Want to learn more about how to leverage IP3 ASSESS to ensure all people and places thriving together—no exceptions? Contact us today!
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