The Health District is starting work on a Community Health Assessment (CHA). These assessments are conducted on a 3-5 year cycle and gives the Health District comprehensive information about the community’s current health status, needs, and issues. The assessment is typically followed by a Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP) that outlines how the Health District and its partners will begin to address what was found during the CHA.
As part of the CHA, we need to engage community members in multiple ways. Below are the areas where broad community participation is needed to ensure we have an accurate picture of the whole community:
- Key informant interviews
- This is typically a one-time interview that lasts 2-3 hours
- Data committee
- The committee would typically meet every other week for 1-1.5 hours each time. There would be approximately four committee meetings during the CHA.
- Final scoring meeting
- This is the meeting where all of the data/metrics that have been collected will be given a final review prior to the CHA being completed. This meeting is projected to last 2-3 hours.
The Health District would like broad participation from a wide range of community members. One way to help facilitate engagement of community members is to provide a stipend for their time. Not everyone in our community is able to volunteer their time due to a wide range of circumstances. By offering a stipend, the Health District hopes to encourage voices from across the county to participate in the CHA.
Stipend proposal
- Key information interviews: $100 for a one-time interview
- Ideally 20 people for an approximate cost of $2,000
- Data committee: $50 per attendance at a meeting
- Ideally the committee would be comprised of 15 people for an approximate cost of $6,000
- Final scoring meeting: $200 for a one-time meeting
- Ideally 15 people for an approximate cost of $3,000
These stipends would be supported by Foundational Public Health Services (FPHS) funding. We were provided $30,000 through FPHS towards completing a CHA in 2022 and have verified that we are able to use FPHS funds for this activity.