Data driven community health priorities: The community health improvement process in Kitsap County, Washington

Local health jurisdictions must complete a community health improvement plan (CHIP) to be eligible for national accreditation by the Public Health Accreditation Board. The model for completing a CHIP involves participation of community partners and generation and utilization of community health assessment data. The process must result in implementation of strategies that use measurable health outcomes/indicators to monitor progress. Kitsap Public Health District, in partnership with the local United Way and non-profit hospital, completed our first CHIP in January 2012. Our process, Kitsap Community Health Priorities (KCHP), closely followed the Mobilizing for Action through Planning and Partnerships framework. We completed four assessments related to the health of our community. Data collection involved: surveys, audience response polling, group discussions, and use of agency and standard public health data sources. Epidemiological methods included quantitative analysis of trends over time and comparisons among geographic and demographic sub-populations and qualitative analysis of community perceptions. Data collection and analysis methods produced robust and useful results, highlighting trends and disparities among sub-populations. After systematically reviewing assessment results, community participants developed a comprehensive understanding of areas of strength and concern in the community and subsequently identified health priorities from areas of overlapping findings across the assessments. Many participants joined Working Groups that will address the health priorities by implementing strategies and using data to measure progress. KCHP will remain data-driven as Working Groups measure and report progress, and as all participants review updated assessment data and reevaluate whether the selected health priorities are the right ones.