Case Studies
Building Healthier Communities Using CHNAs
Community health needs assessments—CHNAs—are becoming a driver of community collaborations and a springboard to launch community health improvement initiatives. As such, hospitals and health systems are going beyond the required elements to make the CHNA process a more robust and influential force of change in the community. Increasing the engagement of patients, their families and community members is key. A complementary approach is to strengthen the CHNA process by applying a research lens—that is, 1) embedding research tools and principles into the CHNA process and 2) applying guidance from existing evidence-based research to address priority health needs. The Health Research & Educational Trust, an AHA affiliate, with support from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, has conducted focus groups, panel discussions and interviews to gain insights on engaging patients and communities and better applying research principles and results in the CHNA process. Participants included patient and family advocates, applied communication theorists and CHNA experts from hospitals and hospital associations. Based on this work, HRET has released two guides that provide information and examples to help hospitals and health systems advance their goal of building healthier communities where all individuals can reach their highest potential for health.
Community health needs assessments—CHNAs—are becoming a driver of community collaborations and a springboard to launch community health improvement initiatives. As such, hospitals and health systems are going beyond the required elements to make the CHNA process a more robust and influential force of change in the community. Increasing the engagement of patients, their families and community members is key. A complementary approach is to strengthen the CHNA process by applying a research lens—that is, 1) embedding research tools and principles into the CHNA process and 2) applying guidance from existing evidence-based research to address priority health needs. The Health Research & Educational Trust, an AHA affiliate, with support from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, has conducted focus groups, panel discussions and interviews to gain insights on engaging patients and communities and better applying research principles and results in the CHNA process. Participants included patient and family advocates, applied communication theorists and CHNA experts from hospitals and hospital associations. Based on this work, HRET has released two guides that provide information and examples to help hospitals and health systems advance their goal of building healthier communities where all individuals can reach their highest potential for health.
Download the guide “Applying Research Principles to the Community Health Needs Assessment Process.” The companion guide, “Engaging Patients and Communities in the Community Health Needs Assessment Process,” is also available on the HPOE website.
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