Experiences of a Mid-Sized Health Department Working with the BARHII Organizational Self-Assessment Toolkit for Addressing Health Inequities

This session will focus on how local health departments can use the BARHII organizational self-assessment tool to further their efforts to address health inequities. Columbus Public Health (CPH), a mid-sized urban health department with 400 employees in Ohio. As with many other local health departments, CPH is concerned with addressing health inequities and the underlying conditions that impact health. Before moving forward with expanding its focus on health equity, CPH thought it was important to assess its current work and practices. CPH chose to devote one year to conducting all five phases of the BARHII organizational self-assessment. This tool provides an opportunity for health departments to examine their internal capacity to addresses health inequities, a snapshot of the work they are already doing to address health inequities, as well as feedback on organizational processes and structures. The talk will focus on importance of tailoring the tool, lessons from the implementation process, and how to use the results to move forward.