217106 County Health Department, Local Partners and Medical School Research Unit Collaborate to Improve Community Health

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Deborah G. Lischwe, MS , Health Systems Research, University of Illinois College of Medicine at Rockford, Rockford, IL
Craig Bientema, MS, CPHA , Stephenson County Health Department, Freeport, IL
Meeting community health needs depends on active participation of multiple partners and a comprehensive assessment of local health problems. Local public health departments are broadly representative of the communities they serve, yet often lack resources and expertise for in-depth data analysis. Academic institutions, on the other hand, are frequently isolated from community-based health assessment processes.

Health Systems Research, part of the University of Illinois College of Medicine, assisted the Stephenson County Health Department's Healthy Communities partnership by collecting and analyzing extensive information about the county's health, demographics, social characteristics and economic indicators. Data were used to identify three priorities: premature death among African Americans, obesity and low weight birth. Action planning for the state-mandated, five-year community health improvement plan followed the priority setting process as did pursuit of a HRSA planning grant for a federally qualified health center.

The model of an academic and practice relationship enabled the public health department to use a data-driven approach to health assessment, while the medical school gained opportunities to connect medical education with community health planning initiatives

Learning Areas:
Assessment of individual and community needs for health education
Public health or related research
Systems thinking models (conceptual and theoretical models), applications related to public health

Learning Objectives:
Understand the importance of extensive health, demographic, social and economic data analysis as a solid base for planning and implementation Relate the usefulness and applications of this model to their own circumstances and professional environment Identify the benefits of an academic-county health department partnership

Keywords: Collaboration, Health Assessment

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I analyzed most of the data for health assessment and led the session in identifying priorities.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.