About the Healthy Minnesota Partnership

Healthy Minnesota vision: All people in Minnesota enjoy healthy lives and healthy communities.

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Charge
Values
Principles
Background
Current work
Past work

The Healthy Minnesota Partnership is charged with developing public health priorities, goals, objectives and strategies to improve the health of all Minnesotans and to ensure ownership of these in communities across the state of Minnesota. This includes developing a statewide health assessment and framework.

The Healthy Minnesota framework and efforts of the Healthy Minnesota Partnership are intended for the state as a whole, and thus the membership of the partnership reflects a broad spectrum of interests. The work of this group is critical to the citizens of this state and the Minnesota Department of Health mission of keeping all Minnesotans healthy.

• We value…health. We affirm that health, more than being simply the absence of disease, is found in balance, connection and well-being across every aspect of life—physical, mental and social—and across families, communities, cultures and systems. Health is a resource for living, deserved by all, that calls for the active participation of all.
• We value…equity. We assert that every person in Minnesota deserves to have the opportunity to be as healthy as they can be.
• We value… inclusion. We welcome everyone to the table to discuss, learn, and prepare for action to improve health in our communities. We welcome and value the wisdom, knowledge, skills, experience and expertise of all those who are working to create conditions to support health across the state.
• We value… difference. We recognize that we are all members of many communities, with great diversity of experience, perspectives, and strengths. We value the differences each person brings to the conversation because those differences make us stronger together than we would be alone.

• We are explicit about race and racism. We focus on race and racism because racialization multiplies challenges to health. We are intentional in our efforts to reveal the historical and contemporary actions that continue to limit the opportunities people of color and American Indians in Minnesota have to be healthy. Being explicit about race and racism opens the door to a wide range of conversations about structural barriers to health including those based on gender, sexual orientation, age, and disability.
• We lead by doing. While we welcome everyone to the table to discuss what creates health and to shape action for health equity, we also expect that each person will work in partnership with us and with others to expand the narrative about health and to reshape conditions in our communities so that everyone has the opportunity to be healthy. All who participate in our process should bring what they learn to their constituencies and colleagues and to act on this knowledge to advance health equity in Minnesota.
• We focus on the policy discussions and decisions that shape opportunities for health. While we recognize that many programs and services are essential for populations that currently experience health disparities, our attention focuses upstream, at the policy level. We work to expand the public conversation about health and to identify essential policies to improve equity and health across a broad spectrum of issues, from transportation to economic development to education and more. We support efforts to prevent future health disparities and to reshape our communities so that everyone will have the opportunity to be healthy.
• We innovate and practice. We work to "build our muscle" to expand public conversations about health and implement a health in all policies approach in our work. We look for new ideas and new areas for conversations about and investments in what creates health. We learn together and look for opportunities to practice what we have learned and to generate change. We share our knowledge and work to strengthen our working relationships and increase the capacity of our communities to shape conditions and increase the opportunity of every person to be healthy.

The roots of the Healthy Minnesota Partnership date back to 1997, when the Minnesota Department of Health convened the Minnesota Health Improvement Partnership (MHIP). The purpose of MHIP was to develop coordinated public, private, and nonprofit efforts to improve the health of Minnesota residents. It considered improving health as a shared responsibility and focused on achieving jointly developed health goals and priorities. MHIP met until 2003. 

The Healthy Minnesota Partnership was convened in 2010 to help the state meet new national public health standards for state and local health departments.  These national standards highlight the regular development of a state health assessment and health improvement plan as a foundational component of public health practice. To meet these standards, the Healthy Minnesota Partnership (also referred to as the Partnership) is charged with guiding the development of Minnesota’s state health assessment and the statewide health improvement framework. To date, the Partnership has led collaborative efforts with support from the Minnesota Department of Health to develop multiple statewide health assessments and improvement frameworks, as described in the timeline below.

Each year the Partnership develops a workplan to advance the priorities and strategic activities in the Statewide Health Improvement Framework (SHIF). Throughout each year, Partnership members work to implement the work plan and seek opportunities to work with other partners. Annual reports provide an overview of the Partnership’s activities. 

Work planned for 2024:

• Release and disseminate the 2023 Statewide Health Assessment
• Recruit new member organizations to fill identified gaps in membership
• Develop of the next statewide health improvement framework and implementation process 

Key accomplishments and milestones include:

• 2022: Directed the development of the 2023 Statewide Health Assessment.  Oriented 15 new representatives from member organizations. Convened a membership subcommittee to assess current membership gaps and prepared for new member recruitment. 
• 2020-2022: Identified recommendations and guiding principles for the next statewide health assessment
• 2018-2022: Worked to advance the 2022 Statewide Health Improvement Framework strategic approaches to expand conversations about what creates health and well-being, shape policies and systems, and promote asset-focused approaches to advancing health and well-being. 
  • 2020: COVID-19 pandemic was declared. The Partnership experienced both opportunities and challenges with advancing its strategic approaches. 
  • 2021: Developed a policy framework that would support a stronger COVID response. Supported policies to advance this framework, including family and medical leave, universal broadband and virtual access, and housing stability. 
• 2018: Adopted the 2022 Statewide Health Improvement Framework. Worked on key public health issues, including health and incarceration; housing, home, and health; and family care and caregiving.  
• 2017: Directed the development of the 2017 Statewide Health Assessment. Released the 2017 SHA and supported it dissemination. 
• 2012-2017: Worked to implement the 2020 Statewide Health Improvement Framework through a strategic approach that combined advancing a public narrative about the social determinants of health with efforts to apply a health-in-all-policies approach. Some of this work included:
  • 2013: Created a group to identify and promote narratives that emphasize the opportunity to be healthy. 
  • 2014: Developed narrative frames and messaging on income and health. Member groups advocated on increasing the minimum wage. Participated in the development of the Advancing Health Equity report by the Minnesota Department of Health. 
  • 2015: Developed narrative frames and messaging on paid leave and transportation. Member groups advocated on expanding access to paid leave and transportation policies that advanced health.
  • 2016: Developed narrative frames and messaging on incarceration and debt.
• 2012: Directed the development of the first statewide health assessment. Adopted first statewide health improvement framework: 2020 Statewide Health Improvement Framework