Community Health Assessment and Improvement Plans
Allegheny County Health Department
Economic Strategy
The Allegheny County Health Department (Pittsburgh, PA) serves more than 1.2 million county residents. Its mission is to protect, promote, and preserve the health and well-being of all Allegheny County residents, particularly the most vulnerable.
In September of 2017, the health department became a nationally accredited public health department. As a part of the re-accreditation process, every five years the health department must complete an update to the community health assessment and community health improvement plan to ensure that priority health concerns of the communities served are being addressed and progress is being made on previous goals set forth.
Our Approach
Fourth Economy supported the development of the community health assessment and community health improvement plan for the Allegheny County Health Department in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The project included data analysis and visualization to update the County’s health indicators for priority health focus areas. In addition to the analytical work, Fourth Economy delivered a robust and inclusive community outreach and engagement plan to gather feedback from County residents. The community engagement plan identified partner and service organizations that provide resources for underserved and represented county residents to conduct expansive outreach and engagement through various in-person and online feedback platforms like community meetings, surveying, and subject matter expert focus groups. Finally, Fourth Economy led the writing and design of the community assessment and community improvement plans for the County’s 2022 reaccreditation process.
The Results
The collaborative effort to complete the Community Health Assessment (CHA) and Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP) for the re-accreditation of the Allegheny County Health Department (ACHD) was a marked success. With the support of Fourth Economy, the updated CHA and CHIP were meticulously designed to address priority health focus areas for over 1.2 million county residents and submitted as part of the County's 2022 reaccreditation process. The project included an extensive community engagement plan featuring community meetings, surveys, subject matter expert focus groups, and partnership engagement with service organizations. This approach ensured that the needs of various demographic sectors of the county were captured, leading to the successful submission of the updated community health assessment and improvement plan. The collaboration was instrumental in delivering a project that fulfilled the necessary reaccreditation requirements and resonated with ACHD's mission, reflecting the community's diverse needs and setting a robust framework for future public health initiatives in Allegheny County.
Location
Allegheny County, PA
