The fundamental purpose of public health is defined by three core functions: assessment, policy development and assurance. Community health assessments (CHAs) and improvement plans (CHIPs)provide information for problem and asset identification and policy formulation, implementation, and evaluation.
Community Health Assessment (CHA)
Grant County Health District (GCHD) proudly presents the long awaited 2023/2024 Grant County Community Health Assessment (CHA). The CHA provides a comprehensive look at the overall health of Grant County, highlighting both challenges and strengths within our communities. By providing an outline of important local data and community perspective, the CHA will impact the future work of local public health and other key community partners.
The Community Health Assessment assists local communities to gain a deeper understanding on addressing the health concerns, needs, and milestones in Grant County. The CHA is a collaborative effort between GCHD, local partners, community organizations, and residents, who offered their valuable insights into the health priorities and concerns affecting the communities where they live, work, and play.
What is a CHA?
A Community Health Assessment (CHA), also referred to as a Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA), is a systematic examination of the health status indicators for a given population that is used to identify key problems and assets in a community. The ultimate goal of a community health assessment is to develop strategies to address the community’s health needs and identified issues. A CHA answers the following questions:
- What are the health problems in a community?
- Why do health issues exist in a community?
- What factors create or determine the health problems?
- What resources are available to address the health problems?
- What are the health needs of the community from a population-based perspective?
What is a CHIP?
A Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP) is a long-term, systematic effort to address public health problems on the basis of the results of community health assessment activities and the community health improvement process. This plan is used by health and other governmental education and human service agencies, in collaboration with community partners, to set priorities and coordinate and target resources. A CHIP is critical for developing policies and defining actions to target efforts that promote health. It should define the vision for the health of the community through a collaborative process and should address the gamut of strengths, weaknesses, challenges, and opportunities that exist in the community to improve the health status of that community.A plan is typically updated every three to five years. Common elements of a CHIP include:
- Prepare and plan
- Engage the community
- Develop a goal or vision
- Conduct community health assessment(s)
- Prioritize health issues
- Develop community health improvement plan
- Implement community health improvement plan
- Evaluate and monitor outcomes
Why complete an assessment and improvement plan?
A community health assessment gives organizations comprehensive information about the community’s current health status, needs, and issues. This information can help develop a community health improvement plan by justifying how and where resources should be allocated to best meet community needs.
Benefits include:
- Improved organizational and community coordination and collaboration
- Increased knowledge about public health and the interconnectedness of activities
- Strengthened partnerships within state and local public health systems
- Identified strengths and weaknesses to address in quality improvement efforts
- Baselines on performance to use in preparing for accreditation
- Benchmarks for public health practice improvements
Additional resources