/ en Sat, 26 Apr 2025 04:07:04 -0500 Fri, 25 Oct 24 13:22:23 -0500 /education-events/maximizing-impact-community-health-needs-assessments <p><strong>Maximizing the Impact of Community Health Needs Assessments</strong>   <br><em>Strategies for Effective Implementation and Collaboration  </em></p><p><strong>Tuesday, December 3, 2024  </strong>  <br><em>1 - 2 p.m. Eastern; noon - 1 p.m. Central; 10 - 11 a.m. Pacific  </em></p><div class="webreplay"> .webreplay{ border: solid 2px #777; padding: 15px 5px; margin: 0 0 10px 15px; } @media (min-width:360px){ .webreplay{ min-width: 290px; float: right; } } <h2 class="text-align-center"><small>On-demand Webinar</small></h2> MktoForms2.loadForm("//sponsors.aha.org", "710-ZLL-651", 4237);</div><p>Multisector collaboration is a powerful approach to implementing community health needs assessments (CHNAs), addressing complex community health challenges while aligning with national and state requirements. Engaging diverse stakeholders such as hospitals, public health departments, nonprofit organizations and community-based groups creates a more comprehensive understanding of local health needs and promotes data-driven strategies. By pooling resources, sharing data and aligning priorities, organizations can develop more robust and effective action plans.  </p><p>Cross-sector involvement ensures that health systems and community stakeholders work together to identify gaps in care, improve access to services and address the social determinants of health. Key themes like health equity, transparency and trust-building become central to the process, as partners collaborate across programs to improve outcomes for vulnerable populations. By aligning efforts, reducing duplication and focusing on long-term impact, multisector partnerships ensure that CHNAs are not only compliant with state and federal regulations but also positioned to drive meaningful, sustainable improvements in community health.</p><p><strong>Attendees Will Learn:</strong></p><ul><li>Key national and state requirements that govern community health needs assessments and how to ensure compliance.  </li><li>Effective strategies for fostering multisector collaboration between hospitals, health departments and local organizations to enhance the impact of community health assessments.  </li><li>Best practices for promoting health equity and community engagement, particularly for historically underserved populations.  </li><li>Common challenges and barriers to cross-sector collaboration and discover practical solutions for improving alignment and trust among diverse stakeholders.  </li></ul><p> </p><p><strong>Speakers:</strong></p><p>Nicole DuPont, MNA <br><em>Director of Strategic Development </em><br><strong>Calhoun County Community Mental Health Authority (dba Summit Pointe)</strong></p><p>Irene Johnston, MSN, RN <br><em>Executive Director, Quality, Patient Safety, Infection Prevention, and Risk</em> <br><strong>Oaklawn Hospital</strong></p><p>Lauren Lewandowski, MPH <br><em>Community Public Health Director </em><br><strong>Calhoun County Public Health Department  </strong></p><p>Stacy N. Shern, PhD, CHES® <br><em>Community Health Advancement Project Manager </em><br><strong>Bronson Healthcare Group</strong></p><p>Era Chaudhry, MPH, MBA <br><em>Public Health Consultant </em><br><strong>Conduent Healthy Communities Institute </strong></p> Fri, 25 Oct 2024 13:22:23 -0500 Community Health Needs Assessments (CHNAs) /news/headline/2024-06-11-case-studies-hospitals-demonstrate-practical-application-community-health-assessment-tool <p>AHA’s Community Health Assessment <a href="https://www.healthycommunities.org/resources/community-health-assessment-toolkit">toolkit</a> provides step-by-step instructions for conducting community health assessments and improvement plans. In celebration of Community Health Improvement Week June 10-14, see AHA’s new case studies highlighting how hospitals have used the toolkit to engage with their communities — including how <a href="https://www.healthycommunities.org/system/files/media/file/2024/04/AHA-CHA-BJC-HealthCare-Case-Study.pdf">BJC HealthCare</a> uses an innovative collaborative approach to inspire their community to prioritize health every day through financial health and well-being, school health and wellness, infant and maternal health, and diabetes and healthy food access. <a href="https://www.healthycommunities.org/resources/toolkit/files/case-studies">LEARN MORE</a> </p> Tue, 11 Jun 2024 15:48:00 -0500 Community Health Needs Assessments (CHNAs) /role-hospitals-nyu-langone-health-e-pluribus-unum <div class="container"> <div class="row"> <div class="col-md-9"> <div class="row"> <div class="col-md-5"> <p><img alt="Exterior shot of NYU Langone Health building" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid src="/sites/default/files/2023-09/ths-nyu-langone-700x532.jpg" class="align-left"></p> </div> <p>The motto of the United States, E Pluribus Unum, (Latin for "Out of many, one") informs the approach to community relations at NYU Langone Health.</p> <p>Serving New York City, known the world over as a symbol of diversity and multiculturalism and perhaps the only city on earth where more than 600 different languages are spoken in the metropolitan area, NYU Langone serves its vast variety of patients by striving hard to stay familiar with the languages, cultural rhythms and differing needs of its communities.</p> <p>As a major health care provider, NYU Langone has taken a data-driven approach to identify communities of need in its service area and then implement programs in close partnership with communities. In recent years, it has partnered with community groups including the Brooklyn Arab Community Advisory Council, Asian Americans for Equality, the Charles B. Wang Community Health Center, and the Chinese-American Planning Council with the goal of learning more about the health needs and priorities of that community.</p> <p>The result of this work was the release of NYU Langone’s 2022 Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) <a href="https://nyulangone.org/files/chnaa-service-report-2022.pdf" target="_blank">report</a>, a three-year implementation plan that focuses on preventing chronic conditions by promoting healthy eating and food security, decreasing tobacco use and exposure to secondhand smoke, addressing the intersection of health and housing, supporting the self-management of chronic conditions, and connecting people to resources that address social and health risk factors.</p> <p>The CHNA plan also promotes healthy women, infants, and children through parenting programs that connect families to needed resources, and through early childhood and teen pregnancy prevention programs. It accounts for the needs of older people as well, promoting projects that support a healthy and safe environment by reducing falls among vulnerable populations.</p> <p>True to form, the executive summary of the CHNA report is available in seven languages, including Arabic, Bengali, Russian, and Traditional Chinese.</p> <p>For NYU Langone, partnerships and community collaborations are the key to creating a platform for evidence-based health promotion and disease prevention at the neighborhood level.</p> <p>It’s community-based and government partners span early childhood education settings and schools, as well as primary care, housing, and community settings, such as faith-based organizations, and local businesses.</p> </div> </div> <div class="col-md-3"> <div> <h4>Resources on the Role of Hospitals</h4> <ul> <li><a href="/community-benefit">Benefitting Communities</a></li> <li><a href="/roleofhospitals">All Case Studies</a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> Thu, 28 Sep 2023 00:41:59 -0500 Community Health Needs Assessments (CHNAs) /role-hospitals-our-lady-lakes-regional-medical-center <div class="container"><div class="row"><div class="col-md-9"><div class="row"><div class="col-md-5"><p><img src="/sites/default/files/2023-09/ths-our-lady-lakes-healthy-br-700x532.jpg" data-entity-uuid data-entity-type="file" alt="Healthy BR logo" width="700" height="532" class="align-left"></p></div><p>The complexities of community health needs in greater Baton Rouge, La., might be overlooked or misapprehended by a single health organization. That’s why the latest <a href="https://www.fmolhs.org/-/media/files/chna-2022-3-21-22.ashx">Community Health Needs Assessment</a> (CHNA) for the city was conducted by an unusually broad coalition of care providers, six organizations that banded together in a region wide collaborative to improve the health of the Baton Rouge community in an effort known as “Healthy BR.”</p><p>Our Lady of the Lakes Regional Medical Center (OLOLRMC) is among the founders of Healthy BR, a regional approach to identifying community societal and health factors across a wide range of areas and industries.</p><p>Healthy BR is a “collective impact model,” inviting the participation and contributions of more than 90 hospitals, non-profit organizations, local businesses, schools, and governmental institutions, all working to shift the city’s health priorities in the direction they are needed most.</p><p>While the priorities of so many groups were not always in lockstep, regular meetings and status updates helped to identify and share resources, programs, initiatives, and opportunities for collaboration, a process known as organizational asset mapping.</p><p>This inclusionary process identified emerging trends and resulted in a CHNA that pinpointed a top 10 list of health priorities for the greater Baton Rouge population, running the gamut from behavioral health to chronic disease to social determinants of health to violence prevention.</p><p>The organizers of Healthy BR are pleased with the comprehensive scope of the health care picture their work unveiled and hope it may serve as a best practice model for other communities.</p><p>K. Scott Wester, president and CEO of Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center, calls the progress Healthy BR made as a collaboration of health care providers to identify, address, and improve the health of its community “simultaneously humbling and inspiring.”</p><p>He went on to say, “While our unique CHNA approach has been recognized by many for its innovation and example, I’m even more encouraged by the open platform it’s given us for working together. Today’s challenges can often be too many to count. By working together on a few priority issues, we can focus our efforts and share creative solutions that make a bigger impact for everyone. Today’s work builds tomorrow’s good health.”</p></div></div><div class="col-md-3"><div><h4>Resources on the Role of Hospitals</h4><ul><li><a href="/community-benefit">Benefitting Communities</a></li><li><a href="/roleofhospitals">All Case Studies</a></li></ul></div></div></div></div> Thu, 28 Sep 2023 00:41:58 -0500 Community Health Needs Assessments (CHNAs) /role-hospitals-titus-regional-medical-center <div class="container"> <div class="row"> <div class="col-md-9"> <div class="row"><div class="col-md-5"> <p><img alt="Titus Regional Medical Center exterior shpws beigh brick building with green trim on a sunny day, american and Texas flags flying from a flag pole" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid src="/sites/default/files/2023-09/ths-titus-regional-medical-center-700x532.jpg" class="align-left"></p> </div> <p>Patients served by large medical systems must sometimes face long waits or navigate confusing phone menus to reach someone to share a concern or have a question answered.</p> <p>It’s a bit different for area residents served by Titus Regional Medical Center (TRMC) in Mt. Pleasant, Texas, where a patient with a question or concern just may be able to pick up the phone — and reach the system’s CEO directly.</p> <p>The willingness to provide leadership’s personal contact information to those who request it is just one of the ways TRMC stays connected with the health needs of the community it serves across a largely rural area of East Texas.</p> <p>TRMC takes a systematic approach to identifying needs and plans collaboratively with community groups and members to develop tailored approaches to addressing needs.</p> <p>For its most recent 2022 Community Health Needs Assessment <a href="https://www.titusregional.com/about/community-health-needs-assessment/">report</a> (CHNA), TRMC incorporated data provided by partners including Titus County and The University of Texas at Tyler, which used questionnaires and other tools to glean insights into social determinants of health and the health status of Northeast Texas overall.</p> <p>The resulting report provides a cogent picture of seven main areas of concern for community health needs:</p> <ul> <li>Mental Health</li> <li>Chronic Illness</li> <li>High Emergency Department Utilization</li> <li>Aging Population</li> <li>Oncology</li> <li>Healthy Living</li> <li>Labor Market</li> </ul> <p>The CHNA also lays out a description of the initiatives TRMC has underway or is planning to address each one. In dealing with chronic illness, for example, TRMC is working to improve the understanding and management of chronic disease, and beginning implementation of clinical integrated service lines.</p> <p>Regarding emergency department overuse, TRMC notes that for clinically complex care, the ED is the least effective place to receive care and promises to work in collaboration with community organizations and not-for-profits to identify better alternatives.</p> <p>Realistic and prescriptive, this care provider’s plan for improving the health of area residents demonstrates the value of listening to the voices of the community.</p> </div> </div> <div class="col-md-3"> <div> <h4>Resources on the Role of Hospitals</h4> <ul> <li><a href="/community-benefit">Benefitting Communities</a></li> <li><a href="/roleofhospitals">All Case Studies</a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> Thu, 28 Sep 2023 00:41:56 -0500 Community Health Needs Assessments (CHNAs) /role-hospitals-boston-medical-center <div class="container"><div class="row"><div class="col-md-9"><div class="row"><div class="col-md-5"><p><img src="/sites/default/files/2023-09/ths-boston-medical-group-700x532.jpg" data-entity-uuid data-entity-type="file" alt="A chef stands in a garden holding produce, surrounded by smiling children" width="700" height="532" class="align-left"></p></div><p>The World Health Organization’s foundational principle that “Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity,” could have been plucked right out of the playbook for <a href="https://www.bmc.org/care-our-community">Boston Medical Center</a>.</p><p>There is scarcely a single aspect of human health: physical, mental, emotional, and even financial, that BMC hasn’t carefully considered and found a way to nourish. The scope of its operations, often in tandem with community partners, provide a national model for how an ironclad commitment to community health can change lives for the better.</p><p>BMC’s web site tells visitors, “We hope that you’ll come to BMC when you’re sick – but we want to help you stay healthy too.” And they mean it. BMC’s approach rests on the simple precept that staying healthy involves a lot more than occasional trips to the hospital.</p><p>Accordingly, the organization has developed numerous programs and services that help address some of the root causes of medical issues, with the goal of improving health outcomes for area residents.</p><p>In 2017, for example, it committed $6.5 million to improving housing for the people and communities it serves, proving sorely needed stability while also supporting wraparound services including behavioral health and substance use disorder services and medical care.</p><p>A separate but related initiative, the Elders Living At Home Program, provides case management services, including legal support, to older adults who are at imminent risk of losing their housing and becoming homeless.</p><p>At the same time, BMC has invested in projects that support development of healthy local retail to increase access to amenities like food markets and gyms. It has battled hunger-related illness and malnutrition for low-income patients through programs such as the Preventive Food Pantry and The Teaching Kitchen, which feature nutritionists who prescribe foods that improve physical health, prevent future illness, and help ease recovery from illness or injury.</p><p>And although you may not hear the grinding gears of a John Deere tractor coming through the air vents, BMC also operates a 2,658 square foot Rooftop Farm growing more than 30 varieties of crops. The farm not only provides fresh, local produce to hospitalized patients, cafeterias, Teaching Kitchen, and Preventive Food Pantry, but is also part of BMC's commitment to sustainability — reducing storm water runoff and increasing green space.</p><p>In addition to creating programs that feed and house the body, BMC has been equally active in protecting it.</p><p>Since 2006, its Violence Intervention Program (VIAP) has worked to guide victims of community violence through physical and emotional recovery using a trauma-informed approach to care. VIAP provides crisis intervention, mental health services, family support services, and concentrates on empowering victims of violence to return to their communities, make positive changes in their lives, and strengthen others who are affected by violence.</p><p>BMC’s comprehensive and highly effective array of programs and services that have demonstrably improved the health of the communities are the result of due diligence.</p><p>In 2022, in collaboration with multiple stakeholders including community organizations, health centers, hospitals, and the Boston Public Health Commission, BMC conducted a comprehensive Community Health Needs Assessment.</p><p>Key findings confirmed that BMC is already working to address and alleviate many of the challenges that community members say they face. These include financial stability and mobility; housing affordability; food insecurity; access to health care, social services, and childcare; chronic disease; mental health; substance use; violence and trauma; income and education; workforce and employment; and mortality.</p><p>This vital feedback informed BMC’s 2022 Implementation Strategy, which serves as its roadmap for its Community Benefits Programs and Initiatives for the next three years.</p><p>Asking, listening, learning, collaborating, acting. This approach to improving community health has served BMC and its patients well and promises to continue into the future.</p></div></div><div class="col-md-3"><div><h4>Resources on the Role of Hospitals</h4><ul><li><a href="/community-benefit">Benefitting Communities</a></li><li><a href="/roleofhospitals">All Case Studies</a></li></ul></div></div></div></div> Thu, 28 Sep 2023 00:41:55 -0500 Community Health Needs Assessments (CHNAs) /role-hospitals-childrens-hospital-los-angeles-youth-photovoice-project <div class="container"> <div class="row"> <div class="col-md-9"> <div class="row"><div class="col-md-5"> <p><img alt="A photovoice project participant photo from an unusual perspective - the underside of playground equipment" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid src="/sites/default/files/2023-09/ths-childrens-los-angeles-photovoice-700x532.jpg" class="align-left"></p> </div> <p>A picture truly <em>is</em> worth a thousand words, at least the way Children’s Hospital Los Angeles uses it.</p> <p>Like many hospitals and health organizations, Children’s conducts periodic Community Health Needs Assessments (CHNA) to keep its finger on the pulse of the needs, wants, and challenges that face the population it serves.</p> <p>In this case, that mostly means children. And through the hospital’s 2022 Community Health Needs Assessment Youth Photovoice Project, more than 150 young Angelenos got to communicate their own sense of the welfare of their neighborhoods though the lens of a camera.</p> <p>Photovoice is a participatory method of data collection, offering L.A. County youth an exciting opportunity to participate in the CHNA and help shape the future of their communities. The idea is simple: an awareness that a community’s strengths and needs should be identified by those who live there. And because Photovoice is open to anyone with a camera, it can showcase perspectives not often prioritized.</p> <p>The youths whose photos with self-authored captions helped to supplement the most recent CHNA are generally not accomplished photographers. The camera is merely a tool to help them shine a light on what they see as the important issues in their communities, encourage them to impact what they see, and encourage them to continue thinking about the health of their community.</p> <ul> <li>An 11 year-old snapped his friend on the monkey bars, commenting, "This resource is importance to me because it allows me to play with my friend while doing something I enjoy a lot.”</li> <li>Wrote one 16 year-old who submitted a close-up of a broken glass bottle on a playground: “I took these pictures because they show what needs to change. The subject affects my health and the health of the community because there is no care and hopefully [this] brings attention to the problem.”</li> <li>A 17 year-old celebrated the importance of the West San Gabriel Valley Boys & Girls Club, writing, “It gives the youth a safe place to learn, have fun and grow. From this I've built great relationships and have been through great experiences.”</li> </ul> <p>In addition to informing the conclusions of the CHNA, the 500 plus photos taken by these community conscious youth, from fifth-graders to young adults, can be viewed in an online <a href="https://assets.artplacer.com/virtual-exhibitions/?i=2766">photography exhibit</a> called “Through My Lens! Elevating the Voices of LA County Youth through Photovoice.”</p> </div> </div> <div class="col-md-3"> <div> <h4>Resources on the Role of Hospitals</h4> <ul> <li><a href="/community-benefit">Benefitting Communities</a></li> <li><a href="/roleofhospitals">All Case Studies</a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> Thu, 28 Sep 2023 00:41:54 -0500 Community Health Needs Assessments (CHNAs) /news/healthcareinnovation-thursday-blog/2022-06-09-when-assessing-health-assets-and-needs-employees <p><img alt="#healthcareinnovation Thursday" src="/sites/default/files/2019-11/innovation-blog-banner-900.jpg" /></p> <p>Last month, community health leaders from across the U.S. gathered in Cleveland for the ���������� Association’s <a href="https://equityconference.aha.org/">Accelerating Health Equity Conference</a>. One theme that was apparent in conference sessions was that hospitals and health systems are swimming in data about our patients, communities and employed populations. These data are vital to understanding the needs, assets and lived realities of those we serve. At CHRISTUS Health, we’ve found that aligning key metrics across populations is an opportunity to do more with what we already have — including aligning measures in our community health needs assessment (CHNA) with data we collect from our associates.</p> <p>This week, June 5–11, is <a href="/center/community-health-improvement-week">Community Health Improvement Week</a>, a time each year when we honor the work of all those who come together in partnership to advance the health of the communities we serve and in which we reside. So it’s an appropriate time for health care organizations and community partners to share work and initiatives.</p> <blockquote> <h4>Including employee voices in the CHNA process has helped us better understand alignment and divergence between the needs of our associates and the broader community.</h4> </blockquote> <p>Building on the success of our previous CHNA process, CHRISTUS Health enhanced the current cycle by partnering with Metopio to include our first systemwide community survey and approaching it through a health equity lens. The surveys were distributed in three phases involving the community, CHRISTUS Community Impact Fund grantees and CHRISTUS associates. The system goal was 3,000 responses; we received almost 6,000.</p> <p>Using the principles of the <a href="/societalfactors">societal factors that influence health</a> — with a specific focus on social determinants of health such as education level, income level, health insurance coverage, food security, unemployment rate and life expectancy — CHRISTUS Health identified ZIP codes with historically marginalized populations and monitored them closely during the CHNA process, to ensure that the needs of these regions were adequately assessed. The assessment process also captured demographic data that mirrors what is captured clinically such as race, ethnicity, age, preferred language, sexual orientation and gender identity, as well as payer and disability status.</p> <p>As an anchor organization, we believe it is important to include our associates in the assessment — due to the unprecedented nature of life and the pursuit of justice during the pandemic, and also because our employees reside in the communities we are assessing. Further, including employee voices in the CHNA process has helped us better understand alignment and divergence between the needs of our associates and the broader community. While we are still early in this part of our journey, we have found so far that focusing on employee voices as part of the CHNA process can help prioritize:</p> <ul> <li>knowing who your employees are and understanding their lived experiences, both as employees and community members;</li> <li>developing venues and pathways for associates to more readily share immediate needs that are not commonly discussed in the workplace;</li> <li>and giving employees an opportunity to give back or contribute to the community by volunteering their skills and sharing their interests with strategically aligned community-based organizations.</li> </ul> <p>We know that accelerating our progress on health equity is nonnegotiable. Using the tools available to us to better understand the needs of those we serve — including patients, community members and our associates — is an integral part of this journey. As we reflect on our roles as community health professionals and community members during this year’s Community Health Improvement Week, let’s make time to think about our commitment to our “first community” of health system employees.</p> <p><em>Chara Stewart Abrams is system director, community health and health equity at CHRISTUS Health.</em></p> Thu, 09 Jun 2022 06:00:00 -0500 Community Health Needs Assessments (CHNAs) /education-events/chna-member-forum <h3>Thursday, January 21, 2021</h3> <h3>12:30-2:00 PM CT | 1:30-3:00 PM ET | 10:30 AM-12:00 PM PT</h3> <p><br /> COVID-19 has led hospitals and health systems to develop innovative approaches to engage with their communities to assess community health needs and implement improvement plans. Join other community health leaders and colleagues to share strategies and tactics that have helped advance community health priorities as we continue to navigate the complexities of the pandemic, the related economic fallout and the national racial justice movements.  </p> <p>This members-only forum will provide an overview of the current community health assessment and improvement landscape from the ���������� Association and Catholic Health Association. A panel of community health leaders from diverse communities will share their COVID-informed experiences and learnings. Participants will then engage in a structured, peer-to-peer discussion with those at a similar point in their assessment and implementation process, allowing space for knowledge exchange and connections with colleagues in the field. Attendees will leave the session with the insights, resources, and connections to better facilitate this work in their local communities during these challenging times.  </p> <p>Professionals from AHA member hospitals who work on their hospital or health system’s community health, community benefit or community engagement portfolio are invited to register for this members’ only event.  </p> <p><i>Note</i>: Space is limited, so reserve your spot today! This will be an interactive event, so please plan to be fully engaged for the entirety of the 90-minute session. Registration closes 12:00 PM CT Tuesday, January 19, 2021.</p> <p><b>Speakers</b> </p> <p>Nancy Myers <br /> Vice President – Leadership and System Innovation, AHA Center for Health Innovation <br /> ���������� Association  </p> <p>Julie Trocchio <br /> Senior Director of Community Benefit and Continuing Care <br /> Catholic Health Association </p> <p><b>Panelists</b> </p> <p>Karley King <br /> System Program Manager, Community Benefit <br /> BJC HealthCare </p> <p>Coletta Barrett <br /> Mission Leader <br /> Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System </p> <p>Frank Nagle <br /> Manager, Population Health & Community Relations <br /> ProMedica Charles and Virginia Hickman Hospital and ProMedica Monroe Regional Hospital </p> Tue, 05 Jan 2021 11:03:40 -0600 Community Health Needs Assessments (CHNAs) /center/community-health-well-being Tue, 15 Dec 2020 14:38:37 -0600 Community Health Needs Assessments (CHNAs)