Community Health Assessments: The Role of Epidemiologists in a Post-ACA Environment Pre-Conference Workshop

Sunday, June 22, 2014: 10:00 AM-4:00 PM

203 (Nashville Convention Center)

Community health assessments (CHAs) play important roles in understanding and improving population health and reducing health disparities. Two recent developments have increased interest in CHAs and the community health improvement process. First, the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires tax-exempt hospitals to conduct community health needs assessments (CHNAs) every three years. The CHNAs must represent the broad interests of the community and include individuals with expertise in public health. Second, the Public Health Accreditation Board’s (PHAB’s) national public health accreditation program, launched in 2011, requires a comprehensive CHA and community health improvement plan (CHIP). PHAB accreditation standards also require that assessments and improvement plans be based on broad participation of community partners and include comprehensive, broad-based information from a variety of sources.

As a follow-up to the 2012 CHA pre-conference workshop, this 6-hr training will focus on the role of state and local epidemiologists in each step of the CHA process; provide practical tools for data analysis, interpretation, and visualization; offer techniques for identification of health disparities; and highlight case studies and lessons learned from the field. Presentations will be followed by facilitated discussions and interactive learning opportunities.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

At the end of this session participants will be able to:

Explain the current drivers and requirements for community health assessment (CHA) Identify available community health improvement planning models (e.g., Mobilizing for Action through Planning and Partnerships, or MAPP), data resources, and tools (e.g., Epi Info) Describe the role of epidemiologists in community health improvement processes Access, analyze, interpret and communicate community specific information about health outcomes, upstream determinants, and health disparities Utilize tools (e.g., logic models) to monitor and evaluate population health impact Articulate and apply lessons from the field

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