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With its announcement in 2014 that it was adopting as its goal the creation of a "culture of health," the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF)-the nation's largest health philanthropy-grabbed the attention of the health sector. Many of my questions about what a culture of health means were answered when I heard RWJF President and CEO Risa Lavizzo-Mourey speak that year at Spotlight Health, part of the Aspen Ideas Festival. But even as I gained insight into the concept, I was leftwith a nagging question: "How will we know when we have created a culture of health, if and when we do?"
This month's issue of Health Affairs is our attempt to begin answering that question. How do we map culture, a term many of us associate with anthropology, onto the specialized language of health policy, health care, and health services research? It turns out that it isn't easy, but it is necessary.
action framework
Based upon extensive analysis of the field, RWJF identified four areas where action is needed to build a culture of health. Four papers in this issue describe the evidence behind each element...