August 15, 2016 – The Public Health Department and a diverse Steering Committee is continuing progress on the Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP), and they invite all community members to participate in community meetings next week.
Earlier this year, the CHIP Steering Committee conducted well attended Community Visioning Sessions where members of the community were asked to share their vision for a healthier community. In a follow up to the visioning sessions, the Committee will be hosting “Strategy Café” Sessions (flyer found here) on August 16th. Please join us as we learn what has happened since the Visioning Sessions and review CHIP goals and objectives.
Background information on this project: Last year the Public Health Department conducted a Community Health Assessment (CHA) with the goal of developing strategies to address the community’s health needs and identified issues. With the CHA complete we are now in the process of developing a corresponding Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP).
A CHIP is a long-term, systematic effort to address public health problems based on the results of CHA activities and the community health improvement process. The CHIP can be used by health, education and other human service agencies, in collaboration with community partners, to set priorities and coordinate and target resources. It is critical for developing policies and defining actions to target efforts that promote health. It should define the vision for the health of the community through a collaborative process and should address the extent and scope of strengths, weaknesses, challenges, and opportunities that exist in the community to improve the health status of that community.