ACE Your Health Community Wellness Survey Report
Advancing Health Equity
The report highlights how real-world factors such as housing quality, transportation access, and chronic stress significantly influence health outcomes. While many communities report strong infrastructure, like nearby grocery stores and green spaces, the findings also reveal ongoing structural inequities that affect community health.
The report identifies five national priority areas where advocacy and investment by experts working to advance health equity can generate the most meaningful change: Housing and Environmental Conditions; Transportation Access; Affordable and Culturally Responsive Care; Food Access and Cost; and Chronic Stress and Caregiving Burden.
Key findings from the report include:
- Health Burden is High: 63% percent of respondents report living with at least one chronic health condition, a number that increases with age and decreases with income.
- Income Dictates Access: Respondents with lower incomes are significantly less likely to live near quality hospitals, more likely to struggle with housing costs, and face greater barriers to reliable transportation.
- Strong Neighborhood Infrastructure is Widespread: 94% of respondents reported having a grocery store in their neighborhood. And nearly three-quarters (71%) of respondents reported feeling safe in their neighborhoods.
Chronic Stress is Pervasive: Qualitative analysis identified chronic stress as the most dominant influence on health — driven by financial strain, unsafe neighborhoods, caregiving burdens, and discrimination.
Digital Connectivity is the Norm: 72% of respondents have broadband internet, but households with low incomes rely more heavily on cellular data or public Wi-Fi, impacting access to telehealth and economic opportunity.
Trust in Healthcare
Only one in three Black or African American respondents felt providers understood their needs "very much so," with many reporting feeling dismissed or unheard.
We cannot treat our way out of this crisis. We must address the root causes: the aging apartments with mold that trigger asthma, the unreliable buses that make it difficult to attend appointments, and the chronic stress of financial insecurity that wears down the body.
- Dr. Chris Pernell, Director of the NAACP Center for Health Equity- ACE Your Health Community Wellness Survey Report