Health Beyond Hospital Walls
How children’s hospitals help advance the health of their communities.
Children’s health starts long before a hospital visit.
It starts where kids live, learn, play, and grow.
Across the country, children’s hospitals work beyond their walls to address the conditions that shape lifelong health such as injury prevention, housing needs, nutrition insecurity, and mental and behavioral health.
Through strong community partnerships and targeted programs, pediatric hospitals are driving real progress for kids and families.
Explore strategies below.
About Children's Hospital Association
Children’s Hospital Association is the national voice of more than 200 children’s hospitals, advancing child health through innovation in the quality, cost, and delivery of care.
Injury prevention
How a Children’s Hospital Reduced Pediatric Firearm Injuries by 47%
A pediatric injury prevention specialist shares how building trust in rural communities is changing firearm safety conversations.
5 Tips for Creating Hospital Violence Intervention Programs
An emergency medicine physician gives advice children’s hospitals can use to help break the cycle of violence.
From ‘Not Cool’ to Crucial: Helping Kids Understand Booster Seat Safety
Children’s hospital staff demonstrate passenger safety tips at community events.
Housing
Defining a Hospital’s Role in Housing
Learn how Children’s Hospital Colorado supports families without a stable place to call home.
Children's Hospital Builds New Foundations for Kinship Families
Discover how a children’s hospital created first-of-its-kind safe, affordable housing for kinship families.
Healthy Homes for Healthy Outcomes
How children’s hospitals can improve health outcomes by enhancing patients’ home environments.
Nutrition insecurity
Why the Difference Between Food and Nutrition Security Matters for Children's Health
Learn why children need both food and nutrition security to thrive.
5 Ways Children’s Hospitals Support Healthy Nutrition in Kids
Pediatric hospitals play a central role in improving children’s nutrition.
Children's Hospitals Lead the Charge Against Food Insecurity
Food insecurity is a health issue that requires more than medical treatment.
Child obesity
Children's Hospital Initiatives Prevent Childhood Illnesses
Pediatric hospitals are helping children live longer, healthier lives through programs that prioritize prevention, well-being, and resilience.
Playing for Prevention: A Goal for Health
Learn how one children’s hospital soccer league has welcomed more than 15,000 children and families to address childhood obesity and diabetes in their region.
Preventing Chronic Disease in Kids Through Lifestyle Change
A children’s hospital's free program teaches kids and families in the community how to create healthy habits.
Mental and behavioral health
Trust First: Building Behavioral Health Access with an Indigenous Nation
A personal connection helped expand developmental care for children.
Innovative Solutions for Youth Mental Health
Children's hospitals are using bold strategies, community partnerships, and creative workforce initiatives to address the youth mental health crisis.
Treating the Effects of Violence
A children’s hospital brings behavioral health care into schools to address widespread violence in its community.
