Improving health is something we have to do together from the grassroots up, former President Bill Clinton shared with community partners, agencies and leaders at the Clinton Health Matters Initiative Northeast Florida Town Hall at TPC Sawgrass on November 20.

The event marked the release of a progress report on their Northeast Florida Blueprint for Action to decrease rates of preventable disease in the region, which includes actions the Healthy Start Coalition and other local agencies have taken since the blueprint was released in July 2014.

The purpose of the CHMI initiative is to improve the health and well-being of all people by activating individuals, communities and organizations to make meaningful contributions to the health of others. The initiative uses the social determinants of health to drive its work.

The Coalition’s work incorporates numerous bold action steps from the Blueprint for Action. Life course indicators, community issues and health and the well-being of mothers and fathers has a large impact on infant mortality, premature birth and other indicators of poor birth outcomes.

One major project that has risen from the collaboration with CHMI is the implementation of a pilot text messaging system, CareMessage, which has been utilized by the Magnolia Project to send client-specific messages to participants. The program is being expanded to the Growing Responsible Fathers program and the Healthy Start program.

Northeast Florida is one of six CHMI sites, along with the Coachella Valley; Central Arkansas; Greater Houston; Adams County, Mississippi; and Knox County, Illinois.

“This is a model for how decisions ought to be made in an interdependent world,” Bill Clinton said at the NEFL Town Hall about the CHMI process.