Social Determinants of Health: A Very Brief Overview

Jun 15, 2021

Position Title: Health Access Manager

Reports To: Executive Director

Status: Full-time, exempt

Location: North Carolina: hybrid/remote with statewide travel

Hiring Salary Range: $62,000–$68,000

Supervisory responsibilities: None currently

About the North Carolina Alliance for Health

The North Carolina Alliance for Health brings together community voices, bipartisan leaders, businesses, and partners across the state to advance practical policy solutions grounded in local experience and designed for statewide impact. Together, we improve health outcomes while reducing long-term healthcare costs, expanding access to care, strengthening the workforce, and helping communities thrive. 

About the Role

As federal funding cuts and policy shifts threaten public health and Medicaid coverage, the North Carolina Alliance for Health (NCAH) is committed to fighting for North Carolinians’ continued access to affordable care. In alignment with NCAH’s commitment to public health and ensuring health access for all, the Health Access Manager will lead and coordinate Keeping NC Medicaid Strong – a statewide coalition focused on protecting and advancing Medicaid in North Carolina.

This role requires strong skills in coalition management, stakeholder communications, and policy analysis. The ideal candidate is a strategic thinker, a skilled communicator, and committed to access to care in North Carolina.

Key Responsibilities

  • Coalition Management & Leadership

    • Manage NCAH’s health access portfolio, with a primary focus on Medicaid policy and related public health issues. 
    • Convene and grow a diverse coalition of organizations, advocates, and community partners.
    • Facilitate Keeping NC Medicaid Strong coalition meetings by setting agendas, supporting discussions, and ensuring follow-through on action items.
    • Work with the Executive Director to build and maintain relationships with key stakeholders, including advocacy groups and community leaders.
    • Manage project timelines, budgets, deliverables, and grant requirements; identify risks and recommend adjustments to keep work on track. 
    • Engage Medicaid beneficiaries, grassroots organizations, and communities most affected by health access barriers in campaign planning, messaging, and advocacy. 

 

  • Policy & Legislative Work

    • Monitor and analyze federal and state policy developments affecting Medicaid and health access; advise leadership on emerging opportunities and threats.
    • Draft policy briefs, talking points, and testimony targeted to a variety of audiences.
    • Represent the coalition with media and relevant public forums.
    • Work closely with the Executive Director to influence policy outcomes.

  • Advocacy & Campaigns

    • Implement advocacy campaigns, including grassroots mobilization and digital outreach.
    • Prepare coalition members for legislative meetings, press events, and other advocacy opportunities.
    • Track campaign progress and report on outcomes to the coalition and funders.

  • Communications & External Relations

    • Serve as a representative for NCAH’s healthcare access work in meetings with key stakeholders, funders, and the media, providing timely updates, reporting recent developments, and sharing relevant information.
    • Translate complex Medicaid and healthcare policy issues into clear, compelling messages for diverse audiences.
    • Collaborate with the communications team to draft fact sheets, advocacy toolkits, talking points, and digital content.
    • Support coalition members in amplifying unified messaging.

  • Organizational Management

    • Work with the Executive Director to support Medicaid-related grants, including budget tracking, deliverable management, and funder reporting.
    • Ensure projects are executed effectively, on time, and in alignment with NCAH’s strategic goals.
    • Contribute to funding proposals, funder cultivation, grant reports, and sustainability planning for NCAH’s health access portfolio. 
    • Develop annual goals, strategies, work plans, and performance measures for NCAH’s health access portfolio in collaboration with the full team.
    • Establish and track campaign goals, performance indicators, partner engagement, policy progress, and outcomes; use findings to improve strategy and support funder reporting.
  • Team Participation & Collaboration
  • Work closely with NCAH staff, consultants, and coalition partners to align strategies and coordinate communications.

    • Uphold NCAH's mission, vision, and values in your daily work.
    • Foster a collaborative, inclusive team culture that values diverse perspectives and lived experiences.
    • Support colleagues across projects by contributing expertise in policy, advocacy, and coalition management.

 

Qualifications

  • Minimum two to four years of health policy advocacy or NC Medicaid program experience.
  • Strong project-management skills, including the ability to manage multiple deadlines, budgets, and deliverables.
  • Familiarity with the North Carolina General Assembly, state agencies, and state policymaking processes.
  • Demonstrated ability to facilitate diverse groups, navigate differing perspectives, and build consensus.
  • Commitment to racial, geographic, disability, and economic equity.
  • Ability to work independently and adapt to rapidly changing policy conditions.
  • Willingness to travel within North Carolina and occasionally work outside regular business hours.

 

How to Apply: To apply, send your resume and cover letter to admin@ncallianceforhealth.org by September 4, 2026.

There has been a lot of talk about social determinants of health in the public health world. Social determinants of health are the factors in a person’s life (apart from medical care) that affect their health and well being. If you think that’s a mouth full, just wait until you see all the factors that are included. We’re doing a shallow dive into this topic in this particular blog and providing a brief overview. Don’t worry, we’ll go deeper later on. This is just to whet your appetites. 

 Social determinants of health fall into the following five categories: 

  1. Economic stability is the relationship between a person’s financial resources and their health. A person’s income, their cost of living, their socioeconomic status, housing stability and food security all play a role in their health. 
  2. Education access and quality is the relationship between education and health and well being. From early childhood education and development to highschool graduation and higher education and even language and literacy, access to quality education or lack of access to quality of education can affect a person’s health. 
  3. Health care access and quality is the relationship between a person’s access to and understanding of health services. Health literacy, access to health care, and access to health insurance all fall into this category.  
  4. Neighborhood and built environment is the relationship between where a person lives and their health and well being. The quality of one’s housing, access to transportation, and access to safe routes to bike and walk fall into this category. But other factors such as availability of healthy foods, air and water quality, and even neighborhood crime and violence impact a person’s health and are part of the neighborhood and built environment. 
  5. Social and community context is a broad category that covers factors such as cohesion with the community, civic participation, work place conditions, discrimination, and incarcaration. This category really looks at the characteristics of the context in which people live, learn, work, and play and how those factors relate to a person’s health. 

NCAH is committed to putting equity at the center of our work. We are going to dive deeper into social determinants of health in the coming weeks as part of our commitment to centering equity. Stay tuned!

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