Key points
- CDC's Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) program began in 1999.
- REACH-funded recipients work with communities to reduce health disparities among specific racial and ethnic groups.
Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH)
The REACH program celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2024.
REACH is one of the only CDC programs that focuses on reducing chronic disease for specific racial and ethnic groups in urban, rural, and tribal communities. REACH partners with communities with the highest rates of chronic disease to improve health.
REACH has worked with more than 160 communities to create environments that make healthy choices easier. Read about the program's ongoing impact.
REACH communities demonstrate that locally based and culturally tailored solutions can effectively address health disparities. Current and past studies found decreases in smoking, reductions in obesity, increases in fruit and vegetable consumption, and improvements in healthy behaviors.1,2
Watch the REACH's 20th Anniversary video from 2019:
Get involved
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Use the following hashtags in your own social media:
- #REACHHero – highlight a partner committed to addressing health equity
- #REACH4HealthEquity – highlight how REACH addresses health equity
- 1. Giles WH. The US perspective: lessons learned from the Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) Program. J R Soc Med. 2010:103(7):273-6. doi: 10.1258/jrsm.2010.100029.
- 2. Pejavara, Anu, MPH, O’Toole, Terrence, PhD, MDiv. The Five-Year Impact of State and Community Program Efforts, 2018-2023. Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia. Seminar Series, February 29, 2024. [Online Video Recording]