The Marion County Public Health Department (MCPHD) is conducting the 2024 Marion County Community Health Assessment (CHA) as part of the greater Community Health Improvement Process (CHIP) to identify and better understand issues affecting health in Marion County. MCPHD conducts CHAs and CHIPs roughly every 5 years.
In partnership with local agencies and stakeholders, the Marion County Public Health Department is leading a CHA process using the Mobilizing for Action through Planning and Partnerships MAPP 2.0 framework. Knowledge will be gathered from multiple sources including Community Partner Assessment, Community Status Assessment, and Community Context Assessment. Each source will provide data-driven information used to achieve health equity by identifying urgent health issues in Marion County and align community resources to address priorities.
Progress
MCPHD convened a steering committee beginning in October 2023 and an Advisory Committee beginning in January 2024. These committees are made up of a diverse group of community partner organizations, including agencies from healthcare, state and city governmental agencies, philanthropic foundations, advocacy groups, and more; they provide input and feedback to MCPHD throughout the CHA process to help inform various steps of this effort.
In summer 2024, MCPHD will launch its Community Health Assessment Survey, which will seek to gain feedback from at least 5,000 Marion County residents on their health and wellbeing. Residents who are randomly selected to participate will receive an invitation by mail to take our survey one of three ways: online, via phone, or via a paper form.
MCPHD will release data and reports at the conclusion of the CHA effort and will post them publicly online.
What is the Community Health Assessment (CHA)
The Community Health Assessment (CHA) is a process that uses systematic method to collect and analyze data to investigate the health,
neighborhood environment, and health related challenges faced by Marion County residents. This assessment includes information on risk
factors, quality of life, morbidity, mortality, community assets, social determinants of health, and health equity.
Findings from the CHA help to identify issues affecting health in Marion County, inform community decision-making to prioritize health
issues identified, develop, implement, and evaluate Community Health Improvement Plans.
What is the Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP)
The Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP) serves as a long-term systematic plan to address issues identified in the Community Health Assessment (CHA). The CHIP is important because it will be used to describe how the MCPHD and the communities it serves will work together to improve the health of the population of Marion County using a community-driven, strategic, and measurable approach.
For more information on community health assessments and community health improvement processes, check out the links below:
· Previous MCPHD CHA & CHIP Reports
https://marionhealth.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/CHIP_2019-2024.pdf https://marionhealth.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/cha____09x08x2021-optimized-2.pdf https://marionhealth.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/CHA-Survey-Results-02.14.2020-Lite
https://marionhealth.org/mcphd-community-health-assessment-2014/ https://marionhealth.org/programs/administration/epidemiology/