Our Vision

An equitable health care system that recognizes basic socio-economic needs as an important determinant of health and an essential component of health care delivery.

Our Mission

To improve the health of all by mobilizing a social determinants of health approach in health services and mitigating the impacts of structural violence.

Our History

The first Basics for Health project began as a pilot funded by ImpactBC at the REACH Community Health Centre (CHC) from October 2012 to December 2013. After the pilot project was closed, through the pursuit of community grant funding, REACH CHC was able to sustain the program, where it continues today as a Dental Navigator program, modeled on the previous Basics for Health project, and serving patients of the dental and medical clinic.

Building on the founders’ previous work on SDOH, and relationships with the pilot program and other SDOH projects, Basics for Health Society was founded as a non-profit society in British Columbia in 2014. Our goal was to build on the pilot Basics for Health program in BC and its predecessor, HealthLeads USA, to help fill the important gap of addressing social determinants of health (SDOH) in health care and other community settings.

Click here to see our detailed history including past and current projects.