REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS (RFP) Improving Social Determinants of Health – Getting Further Faster Community of Practice
I. Summary Information
Purpose: The National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) and Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) are seeking one (1) qualified consultant to contribute to the growth of a virtual, interactive Social Determinants of Health Community of Practice (CoP) targeting Getting Further Faster grantees (past and present), ASTHO and NACCHO’s broader State and Local Health Department (S/LHD) membership, and cross-sectoral partners working to address chronic disease and advance health equity by addressing Social Determinants of Health (SDOH).
Proposal Due Date and Time: February 29, 2024, by 5:00 PM EST
Selection Announcement Date: March 8, 2024
Maximum Funding Amount: Up to $710,000
Estimated Period of Performance and Final Report Date: April 1, 2024 – July 31, 2024
Eligibility: All consultants in good standing with ASTHO, NACCHO, and the CDC are eligible to apply.
Point of Contact: Email questions to chronicdisease@naccho.org
Web link: https://www.naccho.org/uploads/downloadable-resources/Feb-2024-GFF-COP-Expedited-RFP.pdf
Background
Since 2020, NACCHO and ASTHO have worked with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s
(CDC) National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (NCCDPHP) to award funds
to community health coalitions across the country as part of the Improving Social Determinants of
Health–Getting Further Faster (GFF) initiative. This funding was made possible through the
Strengthening Public Health Systems and Services Through National Partnerships (CDC-RFA-OT18-1802)
cooperative agreement.
Over the past two-and-a-half years, the primary purpose of the overall initiative was to conduct a
retrospective evaluation of strategies that advance health equity and improve chronic disease
conditions by addressing the social determinants of health (SDOH) in one or more of the following
domains: the built environment, clinical-community linkages, food and nutrition security, social
connectedness, and tobacco-free policies.
During year one of the initiative, forty-two (42) multisector partnerships participated in a retrospective
evaluation to build the evidence base on successful coalition-led strategies and received targeted
technical assistance to strengthen their capacity around communicating their impact, evaluation,
sustainability, and policy. A link to the evaluation report from year one can be accessed on CDC’s
website here.
Fourteen (14) of the original 42 recipients were funded in Year 2 to take part in an expanded evaluation
and more intensive training and technical assistance (TTA) focused on building SDOH capacity around
sustainability, policy development, and strategic communications.
The current year 3 funded sites, 4 in total, are working with the project’s evaluation team to document
partnerships between S/LHDs, non-profit health systems, and human services organizations to build the
evidence-base of promising practices for improving health outcomes and health equity by addressing
the five GFF SDOH domains.
The evidence and resources developed to date have helped to inform SDOH activities designed to
address chronic disease conditions and advance health equity in communities across the country and
served as the foundation for the launch of a national chronic disease SDOH CoP. The selected
consultant will continue to grow and assist in managing the CoP, which is currently managed by
Mathematica, to provide opportunities for continued learning and sharing of best practices, as well as
work with NACCHO, ASTHO, CDC, RTI, the project’s evaluation contractor, along with additional
contractors, as identified,, to disseminate resources and TTA findings from GFF more broadly to support
other communities in developing and implementing strategies to address chronic disease and advance
health equity through SDOH approaches.
Based upon Year 1 and 2 results and Year 3 objectives, anticipated CoP areas include the following: how
to advance health equity through SDOH approaches that address chronic disease conditions, policy
development and implementation, assessment and evaluation, strategic communications, authentic
community engagement, employing quality improvement techniques, sustainability strategies,
planning, and partnership development. Topics may change as the needs of CoP participants evolve.
Project activities
A. Services being solicited: The selected consultant will work collaboratively and be responsible for
coordinating with ASTHO, NACCHO, CDC, Mathematica, RTI, other consultants, as identified,, and
members of the CoP.
The consultant will be expected to complete the following activities:
1. Participate in a kick-off meeting with the GFF project team to get oriented to the initiative and
discuss implementation of the scope of work, including next steps.
2. Timeline/Work Pan. The consultant shall prepare a detailed timeline and work plan,
representing the period of performance, or 4/1/24 to 7/31/24, for accomplishing the tasks of
the contract, incorporating input from the kick-off meeting. The consultant shall first submit a
draft timeline and workplan for review by ASTHO and NACCHO staff following the kick-off
meeting.
3. Project Coordination. The consultant will communicate regularly with ASTHO and NACCHO staff
to provide project updates through regular check-in calls or formal reports; the consultant may
also be asked to provide updates on periodic calls with the CDC.
4. Project Content. See list of project content and deliverables below.
B. Deliverables, products, results: The following outlines the project content and desired deliverables to
be produced by the consultant with input and approval provided by NACCHO, ASTHO, and, as relevant,
CDC; however a finalized scope of work will be agreed upon post-consultant selection:
1. Engagement and Outreach
• Develop and disseminate content in the form of a formatted monthly newsletter that will be
sent in bulk to broad CoP distribution list to update them on learning opportunities. Monthly
newsletters should include links to resources, event registration, website, instructions to
request coaching, or other relevant updates. Newsletter content should have input and
feedback from NACCHO and ASTHO.
• Consultant should also provide metrics on reach of these newsletters.
• Deliverables: Four (4) e-Newsletters published with outreach metrics provided monthly.
2. Peer Learning
• CoP Peer Connection
o Develop and conduct a series of 4 meetings that promote progress on policy
development among GFF awardees and CoP participants. Foster peer connections and share successes and facilitate mentoring to build SDOH capacity among S/LHDs and community coalition partners working to address chronic disease and advance health equity through SDOH strategies.
o Deliverables: Attendance reports, action plan template, progress report template, and one summary report.
• NACCHO 360 Conference Session and Engagement
o Design and lead the facilitation of an (1) in-person, 2-hour, skills-based workshop at
NACCHO360 (or another conference) to bring together up to 75 (to be confirmed) CoP participants and other stakeholders to advance S/LHD-community coalition efforts to address chronic disease conditions and advance health equity by addressing SDOH.
o Create and staff a GFF booth for the NACCHO 360 exhibit hall to share resources, increase awareness, and solicit engagement in the CoP from potential, new participants.
o Deliverables: Session outlines, promotional materials, and summary report.
3. Resource Development
• Asynchronous Learning Modules
o Develop and produce three (3), 45-60-minute asynchronous learning modules relevant to S/LHD staff and community coalitions focused on chronic disease and SDOH. These asynchronous learning modules should be skills- and competencies-based and will be housed on NACCHO University, NACCHO’s learning management system (LMS), and therefore must meet the project website’s LMS requirements.
o Deliverables: 3 learning modules
• Issue Briefs
o Develop and produce two issue briefs (3-5 pages in length each) that focus on mutually agreed upon topics and highlight coalitions’ successes, strategies, lessons learned, and how GFF contributed to their work. Includes semi-structured individual or small group interviews with relevant GFF participants (preparation, facilitation, and synthesis).
o Deliverables: 2 issue briefs
• Tailored Resources
o Develop new and/or tailor 2 resources or tools such as toolkits, guides, one-pagers, etc. on topics such as, but not limited to, the following:
– Communications/social media
– Sustaining strategic partnerships
– Advancing health equity and creating a culture of health equity
– Engaging community
– Using data to inform SDOH work
– Meeting national standards
– Identifying and leveraging funding
– Examining measures of success
o Deliverables: 2 resources
4. Communications
• Develop two (2) blogs on SDOH practice relevant to NACCHO and ASTHO’s broader memberships and their cross-sectional partners.
• Deliverables: 2 blog posts
Expected Outcomes/Expectations and Deliverables
The objectives of the CoP are to capitalize on the results of the GFF initiative as follows:
• Advance health equity through SDOH approaches that address chronic disease conditions.
• Support policy development and implementation, assessment and evaluation, strategic communications, and authentic community engagement by employing quality improvement techniques, sustainability strategies, planning, and partnership development.
