Organizing chaos: The community health assessment prioritization process in Chatham County, North Carolina

Community Health Assessments (CHAs) are conducted in local health departments across the country, with the purpose of systematically evaluating epidemiological data, community perspectives, the political climate, and the availability of resources to determine health priorities for future action. Because of the plethora of data collected for CHAs and the multitude of stakeholders involved in the process, gaining consensus on health priorities can be challenging. In health issue prioritization debates, it is often difficult hear all voices at the table. Also, while primary and secondary data have always informed priority setting in Chatham County, it has not always been clear exactly how to incorporate all of these data into prioritization discussions. The 2010 Chatham County Community Health Assessment Steering team aimed to improve the CHA prioritization process by increasing the use of primary and secondary data in decision making, allowing for more voices to be heard in the prioritization debate, and having a clearer structure for setting priorities. Fact sheets and score sheets were used as tools to guide the process. Leaders of the Steering Team used timed discussions to increase efficiency and give equal attention to each issue. This presentation will describe 2010 Community Health Assessment in Chatham County, NC and how health priorities were determined by integrating information from multiple data sources, incorporating the issue of health disparities into the process, and creatively engaging members of Steering Team. Attendees will be exposed to tools that they can utilize when conducting CHAs.