Facilitating the successful completion of community health assessments and community health improvement plans

The Foundation's Public Health Services and Systems Research program was designed to help establish the field of public health systems research as a needed resource that will enable governmental health agencies to improve their performance.The purpose of this project is to identify factors that contribute to timeliness and quality of outputs and outcomes of Community Health Assessments (CHAs) and Community Health Improvement Plans (CHIPs). This project will use a prospective double-cohort design and a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods. Kansas local health departments (LHDs) planning to conduct a CHA-CHIP will be assigned to one of the two cohorts: region-led CHA or county-led CHA. More specifically, the project will assess: (1) the effect of local partnerships between LHD and hospitals; and (2) the role of a statewide Web-based information system in support of CHAs. The quantitative portion of the study will collect characteristics of each jurisdiction using four Web-based surveys. The qualitative portion will include a series of focus groups and structured interviews conducted with members of each cohort. Dissemination will target administrators and staff in LHDs and hospitals, policy makers and elected officials, and community-based stakeholders. The engagement of the practice community will take place through Webinars, conference calls, SharePoint, and a one-day summit. Deliverables include a research brief; brief case studies and implementation stories; checklists of steps involved in the completion of a CHA-CHIP; a list of criteria for indicators of quality for CHA-CHIP; and a written report on the project and its findings for wide dissemination. This project will be conducted with the Kansas Public Health Practice Based Research Network, the Kansas Association of Local Health Departments, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, the Kansas Hospital Association, the Kansas Public Health Association, and the Kansas Health Institute. The active involvement of these partners will allow for timely and effective dissemination of the results and their translation into practice changes. Findings will be released within 12 months of the project's completion.

Grant Details

Amount Awarded $200,000.00

Awarded on: 11/21/2011

Time frame: 12/1/2011 - 11/30/2013

Grant Number: 69682