Each year every Health Department is required to create an assessment, that reports on the Public Health standing of the community that they serve. The largest one required is the Community Health Assessment (CHA). It is required to be completed at least every 48 months (or every 3 or 4 years). This Assessment provides an overview of the significant community health needs that are identified within the community itself. Data is gathered in many forms and assembled into the CHA which is then dispersed to the community and stakeholders. The purpose of the CHA is to identify and offer meaningful knowledge on Public Health Priorities that are found by the examination of the data gathered and to offer guidance to address those needs. Special attention is typically offered to vulnerable & “At-Risk” populations, and to input gathered directly from the community.
The CHA is used in conjunction with other reports including the “Community Health Improvement Plan” (CHIP) and the “State of the County’s Health” Report. (SOTCH Report). Community stakeholders and partners usually will come together, with the Health Department, to create the CHIP. It is created in direct correlation to the CHA. It acts as a roadmap to specifically identify the
priorities that are recognized in the CHA and give instructions about how to act on them specifically. Identifying strategies that would be accommodating and partners who would be supportive are just two of the ways that CHIPs come into play.
A SOTCH Report is required to be created by the Health Department for each year that a CHA is not. This report gives an update on what was accomplished that year for the Health Department.
This can include any information that is reportable but also pertains to the strategies laid out in the CHIP. Progress on the priorities identified in the CHA as well as the strategies identified in the CHIP are documented in these reports so the community’s public health can be monitored. Any emerging issues that may impact public health can also be included, as well as new initiatives created to solve them.
The main reason for the creation and utilization of these documents is to provide and connect community members with the resources that they need to improve the public health challenges that they face in their lives.
2020 State of the County Health Report
2016 State of the County Health Report
2013 State of the County Health Report
2012 State of the County Health Report
2010 State of the County Health Report