Seven Vital Conditions for Health and Well-Being


Our freedom to thrive depends on having a consistent set of vital conditions, such as clean air, fair pay, humane housing, early education, routine health care, and other basic necessities. Personal experiences may rise and fall from birth to death. However, vital conditions persist over generations. They shape the exposures, choices, opportunities, and adversities that we each encounter throughout our lives.

The Seven Vital Conditions for Well-Being is a useful framework for conceptualizing holistic well-being and the Conditions that give rise to it, as well as identifying levers for community change and improvement. It brings together major determinants of health, exposing how parts of a multi-faceted whole work as a system to produce population well-being. This framework helps users consider the properties of places and institutions that all people need all the time to be healthy and well. This framework advances a collaborative, cross-sector approach to improving community health and well-being and helps identify where and how to invest in communities to yield better results over time.

Each vital condition is distinct and indispensable. Together, they form an interdependent system that shapes opportunities for people and places to thrive. If any vital condition is denied or otherwise unfulfilled serious adversity can accumulate, revealing itself in excess rates of illness, unemployment, housing distress, food insecurity, loneliness, and more.


Explore the Seven Vital Conditions

caregiver touching arm of elderly man holding a ball
Bringing the Vital Conditions to Life: Basic Needs for Health and Safety
Story - Original
Brought to you by Community Commons
Published on 01/30/2020
woman working at computer Photo by Mimi Thian on Unsplash
Bringing the Vital Conditions to Life: Meaningful Work & Wealth
Story - Original
Brought to you by Community Commons
building side with windows two of them orange frames
Bringing the Vital Conditions to Life: Humane Housing
Story - Original
Brought to you by Community Commons
Published on 12/09/2019
Two children writing answers on paper Photo by Rachel on Unsplash
Bringing the Vital Conditions to Life: Lifelong Learning
Story - Original
Brought to you by Community Commons
Published on 11/01/2019
four people sitting on a stone bench listening Photo by Kate Kalvach on Unsplash
Bringing the Vital Conditions to Life: Belonging & Civic Muscle
Story - Original
Brought to you by Community Commons
people standing on a public bus
Bringing the Vital Conditions to Life: Reliable Transportation
Story - Original
Brought to you by Community Commons


Learn More About the Seven Vital Conditions

Photo of colorful umbrellas hanging above a city street. Photo by Darya Tryfanava on Unsplash
WIN Community Pacesetter Stories: The Collection
Story - Original
Brought to you by Community Commons
Hand with rainbow connections. Photo by Allie Smith on Unsplash
Cross-Cutting Themes: Working Across the Vital Conditions
Story - Original
Brought to you by Community Commons
Cover of Communities WIN
Communities WIN
Story - Original
Brought to you by Community Commons
Published on 02/11/2020


Vital Conditions Topic Pages 

Click on any of the topics below to find curated resources, tools, stories, and other related topics to inspire change and drive your work forward. 

 Related Topics


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Meaningful Work and Wealth

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Lifelong Learning

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Thriving Natural World

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Basic Needs for Health and Safety

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Belonging and Civic Muscle

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Social Determinants of Health

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Humane Housing

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Health Equity

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Reliable Transportation