Community health improvement across a state: Assessing the system and developing a corresponding model

Communities across the country conduct and participate in community health improvement efforts. Community health assessment, planning, implementation, evaluation, and partnership are all components of the Public Health Accreditation Board standards for local health departments; similar requirements are in place for not-for-profit hospitals through the Affordable Care Act and IRS requirements. While numerous resources exist for such efforts, it can be difficult to sort through various tools and models and determine how to best approach the process. A funded project in Wisconsin assessed local community health improvement efforts in the state and developed a number of tactics to address the challenges that were identified. The project: created a health improvement model that incorporated the best from multiple models, including Wisconsin's state health plan, County Health Rankings & Roadmaps, and the National Prevention Strategy; identified significant gaps in the community health improvement system; developed a set of tools and resources to address the gaps, and; piloted tools in 10 communities across the state. This session will review the statewide assessment process and the resulting health improvement model.