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Public Health Improvement Plan

Community Health Assessment Summary - Slides

In 2008, the Colorado Public Health Reauthorization Act was passed, with the purpose of assuring that quality core public health services are available to every person in Colorado, regardless of where they live.

The Act requires that every 5 years, a local public health agency must conduct a Community Health Assessment (CHA), and create a Public Health Improvement Plan (PHIP) based on the local Assessment.

The local plan should outline how communities can:

  • Be engaged in improving health
  • Increase the availability and quality of public health services
  • Improve health outcomes

Community Health Assessment and Public Health Improvement Plan for Larimer County

Work began on Larimer County's Public Health Improvement Plan in January, 2012, and is expected to be completed in 2013.

  • Community Health Assessment (CHA): A process that collects and analyzes data to understand the health status of a community and groups within the community.
  • Public Health Improvement Plan (PHIP): A set of goals, objectives, and evidence-based strategies to address the health needs identified in the Community Health Assessment.

During 2012, under the leadership of the Larimer County Department of Health and Environment, a Health Assessment and Planning Partnership Initiative (HAPPI) was formed to conduct a health assessment and develop a public health improvement plan to comply with the state public health statutes (members listed below). The resulting Public Health Improvement Plan (PHIP) is intended to reflect the goals and priorities of multiple community partners throughout the county. Ideally, it will incorporate and/or complement other community assessments and health improvement efforts.

As of February, 2013, the planning partnership (HAPPI) completed a Community Health Assessment (CHA) and achieved the assessment goal of identifying important health issues in Larimer County.

Update, March 12, 2013 :

Leaders from community and health-related organizations were invited to participate in two meetings in February. During the second meeting, 39 community leaders rated the relative priority of fifteen health issues identified in the Community Health Assessment. The purpose for selecting priorities is to determine focus areas of a 3-5 year Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP) for Larimer County.

For those who did not attend the meetings (including the general public), an on-line survey was posted to solicit input into the priority selection process. All people who took the survey were asked to review educational slides that were also used at the Community Leaders Meeting, prior to taking the survey.

The Health Assessment Planning Partnership Initiative (HAPPI) Leadership Team met in early March to choose priorities for the CHIP. Based on input from the Community Leaders Input Meetings and 165 on-line community surveys, two priorities were selected for focus of a CHIP: Mental and Emotional Well-Being and Raising Healthy Children.

Next Step:

The next step for this effort will be to convene task forces for each of the two priority areas. The task forces will develop an action plan (detailing a community-wide strategy) to address these issues.

Task forces are expected to be formed and working on the issues by late March, 2013.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Why do a CHA/PHIP?

  • Provides a basis for making decisions about where to focus resources and activities (also called prioritization)
  • Helps ensure that all members of a community partnership understand the issues
  • Helps increase the likelihood that activities will be designed, planned, and carried out in a way that maximizes input from and benefit to the community
  • Enlists community support and resources for health improvement efforts
  • Helps determine what needs to be tracked over time in order to evaluate if our efforts are contributing to reaching our goals

Where do the data come from?

  • The assessment and plan will use health data that have already been collected (secondary data) from other health and /or government organizations. Using secondary data not only identifies what is happening now, but helps identify data gaps that may be addressed in the future.

Will the assessment and plan have any use outside of public health?

Yes. They are meant to provide useful resources for the entire community. For example, they can help to fulfill other organizations' assessment requirements.

Where can I get updates to the planning process?

Updates will be posted on this website as they occur.

This project is being facilitated by:

Christy Bush, MHS, Project Manager

Adrienne LeBailly, MD, MPH, Director, Larimer County Department of Health and Environment

HAPPI (Health Assessment and Planning Partnership Initiative) Leadership Team members:
Annette Alfano, University of Colorado Health System
Mary Atchison, Kaiser Permanente
Deborah Campbell, United Way/COMPASS
Bruce Cooper, Health District of Northern Larimer County
Sue Hewitt, Health District of Northern Larimer County
Adrienne LeBailly, Larimer County Department of Health and Environment
Traci Oddy, McKee Medical Center
Carol Plock, Health District of Northern Larimer County
Mark Richards, Larimer County Board of Health
Lorann Stallones, Colorado State University
Avie Strand, Larimer County Department of Health and Environment
Collette Thompson, University of Colorado Health System