Community Assessment & Collaboration

Assessment and Healthy Communities
PUBLIC HEALTH - Always working for safer and healthier communities

This information is brought to you by the staff at Island County Public Health (ICPH)

ICPH

ICPH Subject Index

CHAB

EHAT

"Assessment in Action"

Rural-Urban assessment

Information Access Project

Community Challenge

Community Building Through Convening

Public Health Improvement partnership

Evidence-Based
'Best-Practices' in Public Health

The Precepts of Community Collaboration
The Public Process

Community-based organizations, businesses, schools, local and tribal governments can involve and educate people about issues of concern in ways that state and county government, by itself, cannot. It is incumbent upon community leaders to obtain the services of individuals and organizations to directly educate and involve residents in addressing the global issues identified as being of priority interest and concern in our communities. Informing the community and discerning what is "doable", and identifying what interest can be generated and sustained to do the doable is of paramount importance before any further steps may be taken.

People treasure our community for different reasons; they have strong bonds to certain places or parts of the area. Most importantly, people learn in different ways and express their commitment to solving problems differently.

Successful projects often serve several different functions and address a variety of audiences.
Successful projects energize people with information and give them tools to solve problems facing the community.
Successful projects draw expertise from their communities and businesses, as well as from government agencies, tribal governments and universities
Most importantly, successful projects create bridges helping to overcome the divisiveness that prevents real problem-solving.
Successful projects have well-defined audiences.
Successful projects tailor education activities to the special ways in which their audiences learn.
Successful projects lead to results that people can see in their communities.

In all successful proposals, participants clearly and succinctly explain their project design and anticipated results, detail how the project will be carried out, and outline how they will document their efforts. They also include a specific evaluation plan to assess and evaluate the work accomplished and/or the behavior changed by the project.

It is with these precepts in mind that our Community Assessment Team pursues their tasking to engage the residents of our county in addressing identified community health issues.

The Assessment and Community Development Section coordinates on-going health department functions such as:

Assessing the health of the people and the environment in Island County by collecting and analyzing data and conducting community health assessment activities;
Maintaining a resource library and on-line sources with data on the current health status of Island County residents;
Providing staff support to the Island County Community Health Advisory Board (CHAB) and the Camano Health Advisory Team (CHAT) to mobilize around health concerns by identifying and addressing priority health issues;
Assisting in planning effective health programs;
Providing technical assistance in the evaluation of community health programs and projects;
Engaging in grant writing, strategic planning, and the development of collaborative partnerships to develop, fund, and implement community health projects/programs, and;
Through CHAB and CHAT, advise the county Board of Health on health policy issues and provide support to the Board in the development of issue papers and health policies for Island County.

*The Health of Island County CHAB Report To The Community
(exec. summary, 2004) (full report) (2003)

The Health of Island County ...Key Indicators (Update 2005)

Island County Plan for Healthy Living (2006) (a pdf file)

Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey (2007)

Year 2000 Census Data >>>>> State & County "Quick Facts"

Island County Profile Hot Issues in Community Health

Supporting Our Youth (Updated). . . also see CHAB

AssessNow (information, tools, and resources to improve the practice of community health assessment)

A community can be only as good as its citizens make it.

Civic, city and civil all come from the same Latin root civis, meaning "member of a community, citizen." If we are to succeed as a great community and state, then we must all be members of the community. If we are to be true citizens, then we must do more than vote. We must be continuing active participants in the civic arena.

A Challenge (and Salute) to Citizen Participation

Interested in participating? Application form for all Advisory Boards:
(Community Health, Environmental Health, Mental Health, Substance Abuse, and Children's Commission)

Back

Healthy People
2010

The Health of Island County
...Key Indicators
(Update 2005)

Plan for Healthy Living (2006)

BRFSS (2007)

National Center for Health Statistics

N W Regional Health Support Activities

Rural Assistance Center (statistics)

Trust for America's Health

The Health of Washington State (2002 - 2007)

*Health of Island County, 2003 (.ppt)

Youth Behavioral Risk Factors Survey
Results