MODULE 5 –

Creating Transformative Opportunities

Our progress depends on actively breaking from the status quo by continually creating opportunities for a different future to take hold. Cultivate stories of hope, shared humanity, and mutual strength. Change expectations about what is possible.

Advancing a Unifying Narrative of Thriving Together

More and more, changemakers are realizing the potential to bridge our differences and move beyond issues that divide us and stifle progress. Many Americans share this vision but are currently unengaged, unaware of their potential roles, or unsure of their ability to effect change. Imagine the transformative power if we could inspire a diverse range of people, including those who have been overlooked, to join us in advancing a movement toward collective thriving. The future we want to create won’t be possible unless we break from business as usual and make decisive shifts toward an inclusive, multiracial, multicultural democracy; a well-being economy; and a health care industry reoriented toward equitable population health and well-being. It is at the intersection of these arenas—the place where they share common ground—that we will gain the traction we need to make lasting, meaningful change.

Building the Will to Thrive Together is a playbook that develops and promotes the uptake of a new narrative that powerfully communicates the North Star goal of thriving together—and a path for achieving it through shared stewardship focused on hope, abundance, and the vital conditions for health and well-being. In combination, shared stewardship and Strategic CaseMaking are robust skills that can be used to create an equitable and thriving future. Stewardship skills unlock tangible strategies to connect across differences, create transformative opportunities, and shift investments to help people and communities reach their full potential and experience optimal well-being.

Strategic CaseMaking is a set of evidence-based skills and strategies that leaders can use to persuade their stakeholders and the public to place their support behind transformative systems change. Together, shared stewardship and Strategic CaseMaking can help changemakers go beyond quick fixes to create lasting system change.

Building the Will to Thrive Together Playbook

Rippel and TheCaseMade’s new playbook offers changemakers practical guidance on using shared stewardship and Strategic CaseMaking™ to advance equity, well-being, and systems that serve everyone. Informed by insights from over 60 leaders, it charts a path toward a multiracial democracy, a well-being economy, and a just healthcare system.

EXPLORE PLAYBOOK

“We have shifted our thinking around how we create the narrative to support the initiative and implementation. By reworking our messaging we can increase cohesiveness and acceptance rather and (hopefully) avoid polarization.

–Siskiyou Community Health Center

Commit to Advancing a Unifying Narrative of Thriving Together

Shifting from Business as Usual to a New Desired State

From

Divided narratives and assumptions of the current and future status of the community

Heavy investment in urgent services and individual-level health

Lanaguage is divisive, strictly health centric, and lacks asset-based framing

Lack of intentional relationships and interdependence; siloed thinking and siloed strategy

To

Unified narrative and shared vision of the future state of the community

Shifted investment in the vital conditions as upstream approach to boost community health overall, leading to less need for urgent services

Language creates shared understanding and is compelling to non-health centered partners and community members

Intentionally interdependent sectors with a common goal, collaborative thinking, and a collaborative strategy

Opportunities to move toward a thriving together narrative include

Connect your work with people’s aspirations: Start with goals of patient and community vs. goals of providers, organizations, and payors

Expand aspirations about what a new possible future could look like and help others understand what they stand to lose if they sit on the sidelines

Identify and align around a unifying narrative using patient-centered rather than business-centered language

Navigate dominant narratives such as those that minimize the critical role of CHCs in providing high-quality care with patient outcomes that often equal or exceed outcomes of some primary care institutions

LiFT UP And amplify

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Voices that remind us that health care is a human right and investments in the health and well-being of our communities should always be at the top of a national to-do list. The financial incentives embedded in our economy and in health institutions must ensure that population health outcomes are rising alongside other indicators of national well-being. Coming out of the most significant public health threat we have seen in decades, we now know that we have the power to lift health as a national priority and do so with urgency and immediacy.

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Voices of those who remind us we have always been a nation of difference. The racial, demographic, and cultural shifts happening today are offering us the opportunity to reignite our fundamental belief in a larger WE—one that truly honors our differences, gives us the space to be honest about our shared racial history, and genuinely makes room for all our voices in writing the next chapter in America’s unfinished story.

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Voices of those who remind us that the economic challenges we face today were not made by invisible hands but by deliberate decisions that can be changed through the solidarity of everyday Americans working together. Together, we have the power to create a new well-being economy that is just and regenerative, safeguards workers and the environment, and allows wealth to be shared with those whose labor produced it, so that we build prosperity and wealth for generations to come.

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Put What You’ve Learned Into Practice

TEAM REFLECTION QUESTIONS

What stories and assumptions currently shape how we talk about our community, our health center, and what is possible?

Whose aspirations and voices are reflected in that story—and whose perspectives may be missing or unheard?

How could we describe our work in a way that builds shared hope and invites others into a vision of thriving together?

WHAT WE’VE LEARNED

Use these prompts to explore this concept in practice.

NThe stories we tell can either reinforce divided assumptions or help us imagine a more hopeful shared future.
NA unifying narrative helps more people see themselves as part of the work of creating thriving communities.
NStarting with community aspirations can make the work more meaningful, compelling, and easier for partners to join.
NCommunity health centers can help shift limiting narratives by making their broader role in community well-being more visible.
NShared stewardship and Strategic CaseMaking help build the will and support needed for lasting systems change.