Tool links health care organizations, public to improve the health of Wisconsinites
Wisconsin residents can now consult an online tool to learn exactly what their local communities are doing to improve health.
The University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute has updated and improved its online tool to help communities, organizations, and individuals easily assess and share health-related work in their local communities.
The site, Assessing and Improving Community Health in Wisconsin, shows how local health departments and nonprofit hospitals work with each other and with other community organizations and members to assess local health needs and target priorities for action.
The top five priorities identified across the plans of Wisconsin hospitals and local health departments are:
- Alcohol use
- Diet and exercise
- Drug use
- Access to care
- Mental health
The website arranges these efforts by county and by local hospitals and health departments, giving every community a snapshot of local health-improvement priorities and action plans from across the state.
Building awareness of shared health priorities and the strategies being considered for implementation across the state and in local communities creates opportunities for shared learning and alignment of efforts, according to Sheri Johnson, director of the UW Population Health Institute.
This website serves as a resource to help those in the state working on common health challenges to connect with one another, share ideas and quicken progress toward community health improvement goals, she said.
“Where we live matters for health,” Johnson said. “This updated tool provides important data to support local and statewide efforts to create social, economic and environmental conditions that can have a positive impact on the health of people in our state.”
The institute collected community health needs assessments and implementation plans developed by hospitals under a requirement of the Affordable Care Act.
They also analyzed local health department community health assessments and improvement plans, conducted under provisions of Wisconsin state law. Where available, the institute captured the specific strategies, tactics and programs being deployed or planned to drive improvement in specific priority areas and meet locally set goals.
Updates to the site include an improved layout; the addition of seven new health-priority areas, including education, employment, income, housing and transit; and more social and economic factors. The latter are increasingly becoming a focus in communities throughout the state.
Additionally, this portal serves as a resource for communities applying for the Wisconsin Healthy Communities Designation, a new program from the institute’s Mobilizing Action Toward Community Health Group.
Assessing and Improving Community Health in Wisconsin is an effort of the Making Wisconsin the Healthiest State project, which seeks to help researchers understand and improve health across Wisconsin. This project is funded by the Wisconsin Partnership Program.
About the UW Population Health Institute
The UW Population Health Institute advances health and well-being for all by developing and promoting evidence-based approaches to health improvement through policy and practice at the local, state and national levels.