About the SCALE Series:

From January 2015 to January 2017, with the generous support of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, four 100 Million Healthier Lives partner organizations (Institute for Healthcare Improvement [IHI], Communities Joined in Action [CJA], Community Solutions [CS], and Network for Regional Healthcare Improvement [NRHI]) began learning how to support communities across a wide range of contexts to accelerate their journeys toward a Culture of Health. Each partner brought complementary expertise to the table. The Institute for Healthcare Improvement (which serves as the convening partner for both 100 Million Healthier Lives and SCALE) brought a wealth of experience as a leading innovator in helping organizations and communities worldwide apply improvement science to solve complex problems at scale (100,000 Lives, Project Fives Alive). Community Solutions brought expertise in applying improvement science to create practical solutions in the social sector to address challenges such as homelessness at scale in the 100,000 Homes campaign. Communities Joined in Action brought its experience in convening communities across the country in pursuit of 100% access and 0 disparities. The Network for Regional Healthcare Improvement brought its experience in Aligning Forces for Quality and in applying technology to create community connection.

Through the Spreading Community Accelerators through Learning and Evaluation (SCALE) initiative, three of these partners (IHI, CJA, CS) co-developed a strengths-based model of community transformation, called Community of Solutions, in partnership with communities. A fourth partner (NRHI) learned how to support community transformation virtually. A formative evaluation, led by Dr. Abraham Wandersman, provided a rich context and an opportunity to rapidly understand what worked and to refine the model with communities. This paper is part of a series of synthesis reports commissioned by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to harvest the key lessons learned from the SCALE initiative as a practical offering to the field. The papers in this series include:

1. Overview of SCALE and a Community of Solutions
2. Foundations of a Community of Solutions
3. SCALE: Using Improvement Methods and Design Thinking to Guide Action
4. Engaging Community Residents with Lived Experience in SCALE
5. Leading for Abundance: Approach to Generative Sustainability

Read the report >>