The INSPIRE team engaged more than 300 people across the U.S.—including health care professionals and people with lived experience (PWLE)—in a deep exploration of community engagement (CE) in the health care sector. Through surveys, interviews, listening sessions, and research, one message emerged loud and clear: Community engagement is not a nice-to-have; it’s a must-have.
Despite its recognized importance, many health care organizations struggle to integrate CE into their strategies in a way that’s sustainable, measurable, and aligned with business goals. INSPIRE’s work revealed a pressing need for a stronger value proposition and actionable tools to make CE a lasting, impactful practice.
Key Insights from the Field
Participants emphasized three critical gaps that health care organizations must address to elevate CE:
- Defining Value: It’s not enough to value CE intuitively. We need a clear framework that demonstrates how CE drives better health outcomes, reduces disparities, and strengthens community trust.
- Measuring Impact: The focus must shift from process metrics—such as the number of participants—to outcomes that matter, like improved equity, satisfaction, and cost-effectiveness.
- Demonstrating ROI: Translating CE outcomes into financial and social value is essential for earning buy-in from organizational leaders and securing sustainable investment.
Why This Matters Now
As health care organizations navigate competing priorities and limited resources, CE must prove its worth not just in human terms, but in financial and operational outcomes. The message from stakeholders was clear, inspiring our latest thought piece. We know we need CE to be sustainable to have impact and we need to create a shared framework to define and measure the value of embracing CE as a core organizational strategy.
What Now
Kickstart your CE vision with the INSPIRE Brief: Making the “business case” for sustained investment in community engagement.
If you haven’t seen the full INSPIRE report from our first year of work together, check it out here: full INSPIRE report.
We would love to hear where you are in your process and explore the next right step together.
Contact us today to join the movement toward equity, innovation, and better outcomes in health care.