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Community Health Improvement Plans

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Last month we passed a significant milestone as public health agencies submitted their Community Health Improvement Plans (CHIPs) to the State using electronic Scorecards. Unlike a printed plan that gathers dust on a shelf, this format shares real-time information with stakeholders about how our health departments, hospitals, and other partners are working together to improve the health of our communities.
It has been a three-year journey to receive approval to submit electronic, interactive CHIPs using Scorecard. While our region is pilot testing the format this year, the State is currently making plans for the rest of NC to be able to submit CHIPs using Scorecards in the future.
We should all take pride in this demonstration that our region is continually innovating, striving for excellence, and is a leader in community health improvement for the rest of the state.
Each county’s CHIP will eventually be linked to on the “Local Priorities & Reports” section of our website.
Watch a 4-minute video created by WNC Health Network to help WNC Healthy Impact partners communicate with stakeholders about what their CHIP is, why they use an electronic Scorecard format, and how to navigate the Scorecard components:
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“By the Community and For the Community”

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Macon County Public Health’s Strategic Planning to Address Overweight & Obesity Involves Key Stakeholders

Erin Braasch and Lyndsey Henderson

In the current community health assessment (CHA) cycle, Macon County in western North Carolina identified “overweight and obesity” as one of its four health priority areas because it is a common risk factor for many chronic diseases and is one of the biggest determinants of overall health status. Local survey data from 2018 shows that 68.3% of people in Macon County are overweight and obese.

Lyndsey Henderson, health educator with Macon County Public Health, is leading the process locally to develop an action plan to achieve the result: “Eating smart and being active is part of everyday life in Macon County.”  To this end, Lyndsey has formed a work group that includes representatives from the local library, Angel Medical Center, Macon Program for Progress, NC Cooperative Extension, and other community groups and businesses.

Matt Bateman

Matt Bateman works at Franklin Health & Fitness, a local fitness center in Macon County. “Even though we’re private and for-profit, we have a duty to the community,” says Matt. “We can uniquely offer services to the community, whether it’s free or through scholarships, to aid this goal of eating smart and being active as part of everyday life.”

Workgroup member Amanda Pack is Clinical Nurse Director, Cardiac and Pulmonary Rehab with Angel Medical Center. “We’re focused on obesity’s connection to chronic health management and disease management – doing what we can do to help reduce risk factors and help people make a turnaround to improve their long-term health,” says Amanda. “I really want to promote knowledge of the resources that we already have, the benefits or consequences of our health and our weight, and to promote access for our community.”

Macon County has contracted with Erin Braasch from WNC Health Network to help facilitate their action planning process. For the first workgroup meeting, Lyndsey and Erin worked together to develop an agenda that would use the Results-Based Accountability (RBA) framework to guide the group through a conversation around overweight and obesity in Macon County– including what’s helping/hurting and the partners involved.

Amanda Pack and Lyndsey Henderson

Amanda Pack from Angel Medical Center says: “It’s wonderful in this workgroup to have collaborations from so many different aspects of the community with representatives from so many different places. This whole task force has been a good utilization of everyone’s time; we’re all professionals, we’re all busy. The structure is to the point, but it also allows for people to collaborate and share ideas.”

“Using RBA set me up for success,” says Lyndsey. “The thing that I liked most about how it was structured is that we specifically set aside time to talk about what’s helping and hurting. It can be difficult when groups want to go straight to what’s wrong and what’s not working. When you talk about what’s helping you uncover great things happening in the community – great resources and great people. It’s an eye opener – that even though there might be a gap here, there’s also an abundance here.” Lyndsey adds: “The way that we did it left people motivated and energized. We didn’t leave on a negative note – everyone seemed motivated and inspired.”

The workgroup spent their second meeting on community health strategic planning, including identifying indicators, performance measures, and prioritizing their first action together.

Carol Pitts with the Macon County Cooperative Extension Service runs the youth 4H and is a nutrition educator in the school systems and in job corps. Her hope for the workgroup is that they can break down siloes within their community and that, “we can help each other and grow and be healthier and make those changes in our lifestyle. It’s  not a weight loss challenge, it’s a lifestyle change we all need to make.”

Lyndsey is excited about the progress of the task force, and the potential for change that she can see. “I really believe the community health assessment is by the community and for the community. Having this group feel like they own this process and that these priorities are important for them and others in the community – that was my biggest goal in planning and organizing and getting geared up for this.”

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New Video about Community Health Assessment in Western North Carolina

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WNC Health Network is proud to have created a suite of materials to help our WNC Healthy Impact partners communicate with local stakeholders about their community health assessment process, including a short video about the CHA process and WNC Healthy Impact partnership in WNC:

Please feel free to share this video with others – whether in a community presentation or on your Facebook page. Community health assessment can feel complex, but this video helps break down the process and the partners that have helped make western North Carolina a leader in collaborative community health improvement.

 

Community Health Assessment in Western North Carolina (Script)

For more than twenty years, WNC Health Network has been the non-profit alliance of hospitals in Western North Carolina. Our hospitals have a long history of working together to create healthy, thriving communities throughout sixteen counties.

In 2011, our member hospitals joined together with all local public health agencies in the region to use data, relationships, and community voices to strengthen the health and wellbeing of all residents. We call this shared effort “WNC Healthy Impact,” and it has grown to become a nationally recognized model for community health improvement.

In western North Carolina, improving the community’s health is led locally by each unique hospital and public health partnership. WNC Healthy Impact leverages regional support to strengthen these local efforts. This drives measurable improvements to health.

How does an entire region work together like this? This cycle represents what we do at each step. Every three years, communities in western NC ask: How are we doing? What is the story behind the data? Who are the partners making a difference? What works to do better? And, what are we going to do now?

In the first phase, we focus on the facts by collecting and analyzing community data. We gather high-quality primary and secondary data that local communities can use for decision making. We then help communities dive deeper to listen and understand the story behind the numbers.With this data in hand, each local community decides what’s most important to act on. They engage a broad range of stakeholders to narrow their priority health issues.

Once priorities are set, local stakeholders decide what works to do better. Together, diverse partners lay out the right mix of solutions to make a measurable difference to community health. Throughout this process, peers join at a regional level through WNC Healthy Impact to ensure collaborative growth and excellence.

In the final phase of the cycle, communities take action on strategies they have chosen. As local leaders and residents work to make a collective impact, WNC Healthy Impact helps them measure the progress being made. This enables stakeholders to evaluate health improvement, hold themselves accountable, and be transparent about what’s working.

By working together, our hospitals and public health agencies are truly creating healthy and thriving communities in western North Carolina. Learn more and connect with us at www.wnchn.org.

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