The Public Health Foundation (PHF) has been working with communities using population health driver diagrams to address a variety of community health challenges. Development and use of population health driver diagrams continues to expand as communities understand the value the framework offers. A population health driver diagram identifies primary and secondary drivers of an identified community health objective, and serves as a framework for determining and aligning actions that can be taken within a community for achieving the objective. This strategy relies on public health and healthcare to work collaboratively rather than competitively, offering far reaching potential for both sectors and the communities they serve. Grounded in the belief that public health and healthcare are more effective when they combine their efforts to address a health issue than when they work separately, the population health driver diagram framework can be used to tackle challenges at the crossroads of these two sectors. PHF offers customized on-site technical assistance to communities developing or implementing a population health driver diagram.

Currently, PHF is working with several groups to develop and/or use population health driver diagrams to help meet their community health objectives.

• Diabetes Population Health Driver Diagram Project: PHF, with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), is developing and using a population health driver diagram framework to address different aspects of diabetes prevention and control in three Texas regions. The driver diagrams are helping community stakeholders collaborate by identifying and implementing interventions that may be aligned across these stakeholders to address diabetes prevention and control. In addition, the regions will use the driver diagrams to help them achieve greater health equity within their communities and improve the value of community health investments.  


• Vector Control Population Health Driver Diagram Project: PHF is collaborating with the National Center for Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), to use the Vector Control Population Health Driver Diagram as a framework to develop interventions to improve performance within five different vector control programs from across the country. The Vector Control Population Health Driver Diagram will be used to foster collaboration among community partners to improve vector control programs. In addition to directly benefiting the five communities involved in this project, what is learned throughout this initiative will be shared so that the findings can be applied in other vector control programs throughout the country.


• Obesity Population Health Driver Diagram Project with The University of Tennessee: PHF is collaborating with The University of Tennessee to map primary and secondary drivers to address the challenge of obesity within specific Tennessee communities. An interdisciplinary team of community stakeholders will be involved in developing a population health driver diagram and using it as a framework to identify specific community actions that can lead to reducing obesity in communities.


• Initiative to help hospitals and communities use evidence-based recommendations and strategies from the Community Guide: PHF will be using the population health driver diagram framework to assist non-profit hospitals, health departments, and other community partners collaboratively implement evidence-based interventions from The Guide to Community Preventive Services (The Community Guide).


• Promoting and Disseminating Health Department Antibiotic Stewardship Resources and Tools: PHF is working with CDC’s Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion to promote the capacities needed for successful antibiotic stewardship and healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) programs. PHF will reference the Public Health Antibiotic Stewardship Driver Diagram as examples are collected from health departments of tools, strategies, and methods used to successfully combat antibiotic resistance and HAIs.