Making health a shared value: Lessons from nurse-designed models of care

Nurse-designed models of community-based care reflect a broad definition of health; family- and community-centricity; relationships; and group and public health approaches.

To examine how nurse-designed models of care have addressed "making health a shared value" based on the framework of the Culture of Health.

A mixed-methods design included an online survey completed by 37 of 41 of "Edge Runners" (American Academy of Nursing-designated nurse innovators) and telephone interviews with 13 of the 37. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and standard content analysis.

Two main areas of "making health a shared value" were increasing the perceptions that individual health is interdependent with the health of the community and community health promotion. Themes were the value of social support (interventions that engage an individual's inner circle and a group environment to reveal shared experiences); messaging (a holistic definition of health, the value of both culturally- and medically-accurate information, and the business case); and building trust (expertise sits locally and trust takes time).

Refinement of the COH framework may be warranted and can provide strategies for making health a shared value within a community. Shifting the orientation of healthcare organizations must be a long-term, deliberate goal.