Background
The Fairfax Community consistently ranks among the healthiest regions in Virginia and the United States, known for its educated residents, high incomes, excellent schools, thriving businesses, and abundant resources. However, as highlighted in the 2023 Fairfax County Community Health Assessment these successes often overshadow the disparities faced by some community members who struggle with poverty, poor health, and premature deaths, and may lack equal access to essential resources and opportunities for well-being. Addressing these challenges requires a broader approach with all of the community working together.
Commitment to Public Health
A fundamental goal of the Partnership is to prioritize the social determinants of health - the essential conditions for good health - like access to safe environments, safe and reliable transportation, access to healthy foods, and other foundational conditions that shape people's lives.
A commitment to public health acknowledges that collective action is essential to create an environment where everyone has the opportunity to live a healthy life. Building healthier communities demands strategic partnerships across sectors to share resources, leverage data, and take meaningful action to address urgent health needs and inequities. By working together, we move closer to the goal that every resident in the Fairfax community has a truly equal chance for a longer, healthier future.
A Community Plan
This Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP) serves a dual purpose: it helps the Partnership engage community members in efforts to improve health and empowers community members to shape the outcomes that affect their lives. Through outreach and collaboration, the Partnership fosters meaningful connections, involves residents in discussions and decision-making processes, and ensures shared input to drive informed, community-centered decisions. By encouraging active participation, the CHIP helps the Partnership strengthen relationships and promote open, transparent dialogue across the community.
At the same time, this CHIP is focused on empowerment—giving community members the tools, resources, and confidence to take initiative, advocate for themselves, and lead transformative efforts to address their own needs and priorities. The CHIP emphasizes self-reliance, self-determination, and positions the community as a driving force for sustainable change.
Alignment with the ONE FAIRFAX Policy
Fairfax County is a vibrant community where people live, work, play, and learn—but persistent racial and social inequities continue to create significant disparities in outcomes. To address these challenges, Fairfax County embraced a vision of One Fairfax, a declaration that all residents deserve an equitable opportunity to succeed, regardless of their age, race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identify, religion, national origin, marital status, disability, socio-economic status, neighborhood of residence or other characteristics.
Aligned with this vision, the CHIP prioritizes equity in its goals and actions to enhance community health. The plan focuses on identifying barriers, closing opportunity gaps, and strategically directing resources to create a healthier, more inclusive future for all.
Several recurring themes emerged in the feedback from the meetings with community members, highlighting the barriers they face and the factors influencing their health and well-being.
- Navigation: Despite Fairfax being a resource-rich community, navigating complex systems and processes required to access assistance presents significant challenges, becoming a barrier for many.
- Healthy Behaviors: This theme emphasizes the need for greater awareness and understanding of the actions individuals and families can take to improve their health.
- Knowledge of Resources: Community members reported difficulty keeping track of the vast and often fragmented health information available, compounded by the prevalence of misinformation.
- Stigma: Predominantly heard in relation to mental health, substance use, and food access, stigma, a set of negative and unfair beliefs that a society or group of people have about something, plays a major role in preventing individuals from seeking help and accessing services.
Additionally, the high cost of living and lack of affordability in Fairfax surfaced as root causes of health disparities alongside concerns about trust in systems and service providers. These themes became the foundation of the CHIP. By addressing these real, community-voiced challenges, the CHIP reflects their perspectives and sets the stage for meaningful, community-driven change.
As the CHIP work teams worked to develop goals and key actions, they were guided by a set of principles designed to ensure this plan will have a lasting impact. Teams considered whether their recommendations were:
- Clear and specific, focused and without ambiguity.
- Feasible, with sufficient community resources and achievable within the CHIP timeframe.
- Impactful, addressing key gaps to yield positive outcomes.
- Sustainable, built upon lasting community partner support.
In crafting these goals and actions, teams prioritized closing the gaps the community clearly identified or supported with data. The teams sought to amplify and enhance existing efforts to address the evolving needs of our community, aligning them with local initiatives while laying the groundwork to mobilize resources effectively. By following these guiding principles, the teams ensured that every goal and every action carried the strength and potential to create a brighter, more inclusive future for all.
As the Partnership embarks on collectively working towards the goal of implementing the CHIP, it is imperative that a diverse set of voices are continually present. This CHIP outlines overarching shared goals as set forth through the first stages of development. The Partnership will rely on community members to bring this CHIP to life through the implementation of key actions with flexibility to learn, iterate, and improve on the approach to improve the health of all Fairfax communities.
CHIP 3.0 PRIORITY AREAS 2026 - 2030
Health Care Access & Use
Food Access & Healthy Eating
Healthy Environment & Active Living
Behavioral Health
Priority 4: Advancing social and emotional well-being while fostering a supportive and stigma-free environment for all
Themes identified by the community include:
- Stigma
- Healthy Behaviors and Knowledge of Resources
- Strengthening Systems
Acknowledgements
Recognizing Our Community and County Partners
We offer a profound thank you to our dedicated community and county partners who hosted and participated in transformative Data Walks and Root Cause Analysis sessions, shining a light on the health-related challenges our community faces. Your commitment has empowered us to see, understand, and take meaningful steps toward building a healthier, brighter future together.
Help Us Put the Plan Into Action
Active participation in CHIP implementation is essential for success, and we invite both current partners and new stakeholders to join us in leading this effort. By working together in partnership, we can reach our shared vision of optimal health and well-being for all in the Fairfax community.
Join us in the important work ahead! Become a part of the Partnership for a Healthier Fairfax today and drive positive, lasting changes for our community.
Next Page: CHIP Development Process
