CHANGE: Achieving community-level impact through a data-driven process

CDC's Healthy Communities Program (HCP) identified a need for new ways of assessing and documenting community-level successes regarding policy, systems, and environmental changes. After synthesizing community assessment literature, reviewing local and state assessment tools, and soliciting internal and external partner input, HCP developed Community Health Assessment aNd Group Evaluation (CHANGE) as an assessment tool that provides communities with a snapshot of local policy, systems, and environmental (PSE) change strategies currently in place and also helps identify areas where such strategies are needed. CHANGE has been used to develop a community action plan for improving the social and built environment to facilitate and support healthy lifestyles (e.g., preserving green space, safe neighborhoods, food security) as well as to assist with prioritizing community needs and allocating available resources. Creating a data-driven process, CHANGE employs a Likert-style scale that allows users to measure incremental PSE change progress. CHANGE is divided into five sectors (i.e., school, worksite, healthcare, community, community-based institution) that include specific community health indicators (e.g., physical activity, nutrition, chronic disease management). CHANGE promotes community engagement by emphasizing community discourse and collaboration through the use of community-based participatory approaches regarding its completion and utility. Used by local communities across the US, CHANGE can appraise and monitor current PSE changes on an annual basis and guide strategic community dialogue around future health priority areas. This presentation will highlight the strengths and challenges of implementing this assessment tool and ways these data have been used for developing community action plans.