About Us.

The Health Opportunity and Equity (HOPE) Initiative was launched in 2018 to start a new conversation about health because we believe that every person in the U.S. should have a fair and just opportunity for the best possible health and well-being.  The initiative, which is funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), is led by the National Collaborative for Health Equity and Texas Health Institute in partnership with Virginia Commonwealth University's Center on Society and Health. We believe that every person in the U.S., regardless of their race, ethnicity, socioeconomics or ZIP code, should have the best possible health outcomes. For the country, 50 states, and D.C., HOPE sets benchmarks and tracks 27 indicators by race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. The indicators measure Social and Economic Factors, Community & Safety, Physical Environment, Access to Healthcare, and Health Outcomes. The data demonstrates how well D.C., states, and the country are providing equitable opportunities to thrive and achieve good health.
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In commissioning our work, RWJF recognized that measuring the gaps in health and well-being is an important step toward documenting progress and motivating action to achieve greater equity. With this data, we can better understand the factors contributing to poor health and determine what resources, practices and policies are needed to address them. With its vision, unique design, and data, HOPE offers an aspirational approach by identifying gaps in health and well-being, while charting a path for all to benefit and flourish.

HOPE is intended for use by a wide range of national, state, and local audiences, including but not limited to:

Individuals and professionals

Policymakers, advocates, community members, practitioners, researchers, and thought leaders.

Health sector organizations

State and local health departments, health centers, hospital systems, think tanks, and foundations.

Non-health organizations

Faith- and community-based organizations, and those in social service, education, housing, environment, and community development sectors.

While HOPE breaks new ground in providing practical tools to identify and measure national and state baseline progress toward achieving equity in health and in the opportunity for health, the data and scope are limited.

• Not all key factors that influence health and the opportunity for optimal health are included. In some cases, the field lacks well-established metrics that we know are responsible for inequities such as racism, other forms of discrimination, and social exclusion. In other cases, we have good metrics but the data are not uniformly collected for every state.
• In other cases, we have good metrics but the data are not uniformly collected for every state. In some instances, data are not available for all racial, ethnic, education, or income groups due to limited sample sizes or data source constraints.
• Other key populations—characterized by sexual orientation, gender identity, immigration status, religion and functional status—are not included.
• Local variation at the substate level—such as county, city, neighborhood or census tract—are also not included.
• Disaggregated race and ethnic group data are also not captured as these data are often statistically limited when available and inconsistently reported across states.

Notwithstanding these data constraints, HOPE provides an important first step and reference point for tracking state and national health equity status and progress. Most importantly, it offers new ways to identify and promote opportunity to advance health and well-being for everyone across the U.S.