*Updated in 2025 Public health is trapped in an inverse relationship. It supports many needs with few resources. The Commonwealth Fund's report,  U.S. Health Care from a Global Perspective, 2022: Accelerating Spending, Worsening Outcomes , found that the U.S. spends twice as much on healthcare than the average, high-income country. In particular, we spend more on healthcare treatment and less on prevention, a primary focus of public health.  In CNN's response to The Commonwealth Fund's 2022 report , Jacqueline Howard interviewed Dr. Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association, who stated, “[W]e don’t do as much primary care prevention as the other nations, and we still have a public health system, which is fractured . . . [We also] under-invest compared to other industrialized nations in societal things. They spend their money on providing upfront support for their citizens. We spend our money on sick care.” If you work in a he...

Why should you include data collection methods in your Community Health Assessment (CHA) toolkit? A CHA is like an electronic health record for a county, Metropolitan Statistical Area or region. Done well, the CHA captures clinical and social needs, informs options for new service delivery, facilitates collaboration among community stakeholders and ultimately can impact health outcomes.  Public health departments today must collect data on everything from diabetes outcomes to housing, income, immunizations and many other measures. Read on for the top methods for collecting the most challenging yet insightful data.  Community Health Assessment data collection methods  Like an EHR, the CHA includes defined components. The National Association of County and City Health Officials’ Mobilizing for Action through Planning and Partnerships (MAPP 2.0) model has several components and three assessments under the MAPP 2.0 model Mobilizing for Action through Planning and Partnerships...

The purpose of a Community Health Assessment goes beyond achieving state requirements or receiving accreditation. If you're a local health department, you may be interested in finding ways to push your CHA data further to more easily identify ways to improve health equity and community outcomes. Focusing only on submission can be counter-productive to the community outcomes you want to achieve. In this blog, we'll give you an overview of the importance of conducting a CHA. Plus, we'll provide you with key information you can use to reset your workflow and rethink your processes. Why you need to complete a Community Health Assessment Certain states require a CHA because it provides a systematic review of a community's health status and essential data and information regarding the health of the community. Specifically, the New York state Department of Health writes, "Community health assessment is a fundamental tool of public health practice. Its aim is to describe...

As a local health department, your Community Health Assessment helps you discover your community’s story so you can better identify and achieve key improvements. If you feel you can achieve more from your CHA, then it’s time to re-examine your approach. It’s not as difficult as it seems, and there is a roadmap: MAPP 2.0 . The Mobilizing for Action through Planning and Partnership tool was developed by the National Association of County and City Health Officials in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Using MAPP 2.0, DataGen created a five-month action plan that you can use over the span of five months for a better CHA — no matter where you start from or what your results have been. How to re-examine your CHA approach Month 1: Organize for success and partnership development Identifying the right internal and external community partners is the single most important step for a successful CHA. These are the individuals, at every level, who will champion, lea...

Data is at the heart of a Community Health Assessment . CHAs exist to collect community input, use that feedback to identify unmet needs and intervene effectively. A CHA cannot be fully effective without accurate, community-focused data. But these data are not easy for public health departments to locate, acquire, format or interpret — even if it comes from a single, reliable source. CHA data must be high-volume, high-quality and diverse. That takes time, staff and expertise which are often in short supply at public health departments. Faced with this daunting effort, health departments may rush past data to intervention, which could be a costly mistake. They may lose sight of the CHA's purpose beyond accreditation, make incorrect assumptions about community needs and ignore better resources. While data may be the most difficult CHA step, there are three ways you can help minimize the complexity. Overcome CHA data collection challenges 1. Remember why it matters Improved community ...

What are the hallmarks of an effective public health department? Public health accreditation may not be the first answer that comes to mind. But the  Public Health Accreditation Board  created a framework that can help health departments transform their quality, accountability and performance. The  Community Health Assessment  anchors the PHAB framework, which includes 10 Essential Public Health Services aligned to 10 domains and eight key public health capabilities. To improve your application process, it’s essential to see how your CHA affects your public health accreditation. These are the five things you need to know now.  1.     Accreditation is prevalent but takes time Per the  CDC , 80% of state public health departments are PHAB accredited, as are hundreds of  local and tribal agencies . These achievements didn’t happen overnight. Public health departments may lack the time, staff, data and partnerships to refine their CHAs,...

Not owning a vehicle in New York City has negligible impact on a person’s health. Not owning one in a rural area — or even a booming metropolis like Nashville that lacks a diversified public transportation system — can be life-threatening. This tale of two cities suggests that transportation, perhaps more than any other social determinant of health, illustrates the link between ZIP code, disparities and health outcomes. The importance of transportation Missing medical appointments due to lack of transportation is a stark example of how SDOH can directly impact health outcomes. The ability to get where and when you need to is also connected to other social determinants of health domains such as finance, food and housing. However, one study found that transportation is found in fewer SDOH assessment tools (66%) than any other metric besides social and community context (61%) and physical activity (33%). Addressing transportation inequality begins with knowing how it impacts populations ...

Why is healthcare so confusing? Navigating its complexity is the last thing a patient needs when their health is on the line. Yet, this confusion happens every day — even to career healthcare professionals who understand how the system works. Many startups have been launched to "fix healthcare" due to a founder's personal negative experience. The Health Resources and Services Administration defines health literacy as “the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic health information needed to make appropriate health decisions.” Without healthcare literacy, navigating the complexities of the healthcare system becomes impossible. It is the foundation of patient self-advocacy. Addressing health literacy goes to the heart of literacy itself. It has as much to do with how information is presented as how it is understood. "Health literacy represents a lot of opportunity on the healthcare industry side. We can do a lot better than...

The most immediate point of intersection between hospitals and consumer financial risk is the inability of patients to pay their medical bills. This is changing as the role of hospitals in meeting social determinants of health (SDOH) expands. Low incomes and poor health outcomes are linked across multiple conditions and stages of life. The short- and long-term risks of financial security are amplified for providers and patients, given just how close so many in the U.S. are to economic shocks they cannot cover or rebound from: A Federal Reserve survey found that 36% of adults could not pay cash to cover a $400 emergency expense ; even those who could cover the expense might tap savings or a credit card to meet the immediate need (2020). Race-related outcomes are worse: nearly 40% of employed Black or Hispanic adults in the same survey reported that a $400 emergency expense would make it harder to pay other bills, compared to 18% of employed white adults. This can create ...