Online Program

337730
Forces that Affect Health Equity: Conducting Community Health Assessments with a Social Justice Frame


Wednesday, November 4, 2015 : 8:30 a.m. - 8:50 a.m.

Tiffany Huang, MPH, Assessment and Planning, National Association of County and City Health Officials, Washington, DC

Achieving health equity involves identifying, preventing, and reversing the effects of decisions, policies, investments, rules, and laws that have caused social and economic inequities that affect people’s abilities to live healthy lives. Mobilizing for Action through Planning and Partnership (MAPP) is a community-driven strategic planning process that can help communities develop a culture of continuous collaborative health improvement that can guide them through addressing health inequities.

MAPP uses four different assessments to identify local health opportunities and potential challenges. To be comprehensive and illuminate population health status, community health assessments (CHAs) should include data on local demographics, socioeconomic characteristics, behavioral health, the environment (built and natural), morbidity and mortality, quality of life, local resources, community assets, and other determinants of health status.  Once the CHA is complete, the health department and its partners use the data to identify public health priorities and plan collaborative actions to improve the population’s health, commonly referred to as a Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP).  

In this interactive session, National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) staff will provide an overview of MAPP and conducting MAPP with a health equity focus. Staff from the Cook County Department of Public Health will discuss their experience using the MAPP framework, and how they used a health equity lens to conduct one of their assessments, including results, challenges, and lessons learned. A community organizer will discuss his experience participating in the assessment and how public health can work with community groups to address health equity.

Learning Areas:

Assessment of individual and community needs for health education
Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs
Program planning
Systems thinking models (conceptual and theoretical models), applications related to public health

Learning Objectives:
Describe the Mobilizing for Action through Planning and Partnerships (MAPP) process Discuss how a Community Health Improvement process can inform a health department’s approach to improving population health Describe a social justice approach to MAPP Demonstrate how health departments may use MAPP to address health equity in their communities

Keyword(s): Community Health Assessment, Health Disparities/Inequities

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am a lead trainer for NACCHO on Mobilizing for Action through Planning and Partnerships (MAPP), a community-driven strategic planning process. In this role, I have led trainings for diverse audiences of up to 60 people from local health departments, other government agencies, and partner organizations. I regularly provide technical assistance to local health departments on this topic.
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.