By Rebecca Baader, community health liaison
Eau Claire City-County Health Department
For many years, local health-related organizations in the Chippewa Valley have worked independently to assess the health of the community through their own community health assessment process. All of these organizations have a history of strongly believing in improving community health, and they have shown a dedication not only to treating current health problems, but more importantly to preventing potential future health problems.
These common beliefs sparked the creation of a joint Community Health Assessment (CHA) for Chippewa and Eau Claire counties.
Last May, for the first time, these nine partner organizations in the counties pooled their resources to initiate a more effective CHA process. The organizations saw the potential of this assessment to provide a broader perspective from a greater number of participants across the Chippewa Valley.
It was determined that conducting a single assessment also would save community members from being bombarded with countless health assessments and would save each of the organizations involved valuable resources that they could put towards additional prevention efforts.
The CHA community partner agencies include:
• Chippewa County Department of Public Health
• Chippewa Health Improvement Partnership
• Eau Claire City-County Health Department
• Eau Claire Healthy Communities
• Marshfield Clinic
• Mayo Clinic Health System
• HSHS Sacred Heart Hospital
• HSHS St. Joseph’s Hospital
• United Way of the Greater Chippewa Valley
Bi-monthly meetings of the partners began in May 2014, and a project coordinator for the assessment was hired to assist with the yearlong process from initial data gathering to final report writing.
Last October, the partners began the initial phase of the process by conducting a health survey to identify the most pressing health issues facing area residents. The survey assessed perceptions of 14 different health issues affecting our community, ranging from obesity to environmental health. With over 2,100 participants between the two counties, survey partners were satisfied with how the project was beginning to take form.
Most responses were collected from an online survey, but extra efforts were put in place to ensure a representative community response. Paper copies of the survey were made available throughout the counties and volunteers, including to community members at the both county WIC and immunization clinics.
“By working cross-county and by using the same survey tool, we were able to obtain more responses, have a better comparison between the two counties, as well as eliminate redundancy of surveying residents,” says Jan Porath, executive director of United Way of the Greater Chippewa Valley.
“This has been beneficial, as many of the partner organizations serve both counties in some capacity,” Porath says. “The greater number of responses provides all partner organizations with additional data points to gain insight into where the community feels we are in tackling health issues.”
After the community survey concluded, additional listening sessions were held to gain insights from under-represented populations to ensure that the organizations would have a more accurate representation of how all community members view health. At the same time these listening sessions were occurring, local health data from schools, health departments and other local and national organizations was being gathered for each of the 14 priority areas.
In the next phase of the process, primary data collected through the survey responses and the listening sessions, along with the secondary data, was presented at 10 different “community conversations” held in each of the counties.
After being presented with the data, community members who were present had the opportunity to participate in small group discussions to react to the information they had heard and talk about what each person believed the top three priorities should be. All in attendance could then vote on what they felt the top three priorities should be for their community.
In March, a final community event was held in both Chippewa and Eau Claire counties. At this time, the following health priorities were announced for each county:
Chippewa County Health Priorities
• Mental Health
• Substance Use
• Alcohol Misuse
Eau Claire Health Priorities
• Mental Health
• Alcohol Misuse
• Obesity
During the final event for each county, attendees were inspired to be more think creatively. Community members worked in groups to dig deeper into each of these priority health areas. Discussion focused on the root causes of these highlighted problems in our communities, along with conversation about local resources and gaps that exist within the communities in regards to each issue.
“We are so excited about the support from the community throughout this process,” says Audrey Boerner, CHA project manager.
“The community involvement helped our partners who are committed to improving health see that many community members are committed to this as well,” Boerner says. “It is just the first step in our progress toward working with the community on health issues to really make a difference.”
With all of the events concluded, final steps are being taken to prepare the Community Health Assessment reports. These reports will be accessible on the webpages of all of the CHA community partner agencies. By reading this report, community members can learn more about the CHA process and the data that was collected.
All of the partner organizations will use the report to determine their action plans to impact the health of their respective communities. The organizations then will implement the strategies of the plan within their organization and evaluate the results.
However, unlike in past years, each organization will be using this same foundational information. This has the potential for organizations to have a greater alignment in regards to community efforts to improve health. The collaborative assessment will be integral in upcoming initiatives to improve Chippewa and Eau Claire County community health across all partner organizations.
Working together on a joint Community Health Assessment has not only helped the partner organizations complete their assessments, but has set a framework for the organizations, even ones that usually are competitors, to work effectively together for the betterment of health in the Chippewa Valley.
“This initial project has helped to lay a foundation for how we can really work collaboratively together,” says Lieske Giese, Eau Claire City-County Health Department health officer/director. “I am excited for the potential that exists for all of our organizations to get in the same ‘boat’ and row together to improve health.”
Chippewa Health Improvement Partnership and Eau Claire Healthy Communities are health-focused community coalitions in each county that have been active partners in the CHA process. Like the other partner organizations, they will be using the reports to guide their community-based action around priority areas in each county. Both of these organizations welcome all community members to the table to work to create action around health.
To learn more about these organizations and the way you can impact health in your community, visit www.chippewahealth.org/ or www.echealthycommunities.org.