Ashoka
What was the challenge about?
The Challenge aimed to find actors and innovations that are working to improve health outcomes by delivering person-centered solutions within communities.
We were particularly interested in solutions which:
Make novel health interventions
Improving health outcomes for individuals either through innovative health practices or access to new or expanded services that support different facets of community health and are integrated with primary care.
Improve health equity
Designing solutions that combat health disparities and improve health outcomes for marginalized communities, through improving social and/or environmental determinants.
Strengthen community governance and agency
Laying the groundwork for new processes and structures between communities, health actors, and systems that will enable community decision-making and financing, as well as promoting co-creation and self-advocacy that leads to improved health outcomes for all.
Prizes and Benefits
Among other prizes, all 8 winners received a prize award of €50,000 each, along with the opportunity to build the first-of-its kind network of community health innovators in Europe. Some winners were also invited to explore the opportunity of a long-term partnership with the J&J Foundation. They then had the chance to embark on a tailored learning journey with their peers, Ashoka and The Johnson & Johnson Foundation to enhance their scaling strategy, advocacy work, and collective impact on their way to achieve systems change
Meet the winners
We are proud to announce that we have chosen the winners of Reimagining Community Health Challenge! Join us in congratulating these 8 pioneers in community health, who are working tirelessly to build a health system that aims to improve the wellbeing of their community, and will ultimately impact the lives of many across Europe.
A big thank you to all who participated in this challenge, to the semifinalists and to the finalists, and a huge congratulations to the winners. We are thrilled to be embarking on this journey with you, and cannot wait to see what you will achieve.
Articles, Trends & Insights
Reimagining Community Health: Fostering Innovations for Healthier Communities Across Europe
Ashoka and Johnson & Johnson Foundation have joined forces to seek system entrepreneurs across Europe who are improving health outcomes within their communities by delivering person-centered healthcare solutions.
Introducing the Winners of the Reimagining Community Health Challenge
COVID-19 has proven why we need hyperlocal community health models that connect people together and empower them to become more actively involved in their own health and well-being. Community health models challenge the way that healthcare is approached, delivered and financed: from a reactive system that waits for people to get sick and seek care, to an active system where health is valued, nurtured and incentivized.
Check out the impact report for the first year of our partnership!
In this report, we wrap-up the first year of the journey that Ashoka and J&J have embarked on together. We start by outlining what our values are and what we were set out to achieve, and then dig deeper into the journeys of the different stakeholders we have engaged: Challenge applicants, J&J and Ashoka communities, and the wider health ecosystem. Through it, we demonstrate the wide impact we’ve reached, we reflect on what we have achieved, and project onto what is ahead.
New paradigms are emerging in the field of health in Europe
In Europe, social innovators are centering solutions that democratize the access to care and knowledge. We are seeing a global understanding of wellness, well-being, and good health that focuses on holistic approaches and community models that democratize access and information. At the core of innovation in health is a human-centered mindset, meaning the "spark" for many solutions come from a motivation to better the lives of the people around them.