LPH assessment and planning

Contact Info
Center for Public Health Practice
651-201-3880
health.ophp@state.mn.us

Contact Info

Center for Public Health Practice
651-201-3880
health.ophp@state.mn.us

Community Health Assessment and Planning Toolkit

The community health assessment and planning toolkit contains resources that MDH staff have gathered to assist Minnesota's local health departments and community health boards with community health assessment and community health improvement planning. ​

 

Help and assistance

  • Help with community health assessment and planning: The MDH Center for Public Health Practice provides assistance to local and tribal public health in many areas of local public health practice, including the community health assessment process. Contact the Center for Public Health Practice at health.ophp@state.mn.us or by calling 651-201-3880.​
  • More information on community health assessment and planning: Learn more about the community health assessment and planning process and find resources from MDH’s Center for Public Health Practice at: Assessment and Planning for Local Public Health.
  • Feedback: Please use this form if you'd like to provide feedback or comments: Community Health Assessment and Planning Feedback Form.

 

Resources by category

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Communication
  • Communications Plan (DOC)
    Minnesota Department of Health
    modifiable template
    This Minnesota Department of Health resource provides a template for systematically planning and executing communications regarding your community health assessment and planning process.
  • Effective Communication
    Windsor-Essex County Health Unit
    guide/toolkit
    This 4-page excerpt (start on p. 14) from Windsor-Essex County Health Unit's toolkit, No barriers, health equity for all: Toolkit and practical guide for health and community service providers identifies strategies for communicating about health equity and social determinants of health. It describes the importance of inclusive language, guidelines for effective communication, and alternative ways to describe health equity for different audiences.
  • Narratives and Health Equity: Expanding the Conversation
    Minnesota Department of Health
    guide/toolkit
    This Minnesota Department of Health web page has links to explanations of public narratives, examples of emerging public health narratives, and training and tools for public narratives. Using a public narrative approach can help expand conversations with partners across sectors to include the social and economic conditions that shape health and well-being and to suggest actions to advance health equity.
  • Public Health Reaching Across Sectors (PHRASES)
    de Beaumont Foundation, Aspen Institute
    guide/toolkit
    Evidence-based framing and messaging tools and strategies to help public health professionals communicate across sectors, from de Beaumont Foundation and The Aspen Institute.
Community engagement
  • 10 - Engaging People with Lived/Living Experience
    Alison Homer, Tamarack Institute
    case study, guide/toolkit
    This guide by Alison Homer was written to support poverty-reduction groups to meaningfully engage people with lived/living experience. It highlights new practices and thinking, ideas that can be applied for any health priority issue a community is seeking to address.
  • 101 on One-to-Ones Quick Guide (PDF) and Participant Guide (PDF)
    University of Minnesota, adapted from Jewish Community Action guidance
    This activity created by Annette Shepardson from the University of Minnesota Extension encourages participants to practice having one-to-one conversations in which they listen carefully to understand and, through that understanding, build strong relationships.
  • Circles of Involvement Exercise (PDF)
    National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO)
    facilitated group activity
    This 45-minute small group exercise from the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) involves several steps to identify the public health system and community partners that should be involved in the Mobilizing for Action through Planning and Partnerships (MAPP) process, separating them out into circles of involvement. Requires utilization of this resource as well: Local Assessment Instrument: National Public Health Performance Standards(PDF).
  • Community Engagement Assessment Tool
    Nexus Community Partners
    assessment
    This Nexus Community Partners tool helps organizations improve their community engagement efforts by assessing their activities on a scale from outreach to engagement.
  • Conducting Focus Groups
    Community Tool Box
    guide/toolkit
    This Community Tool Box section covers how to plan, prepare, conduct, and use focus group results to receive qualitative data for deeper understanding of community issues.
  • Conducting Key Informant Interviews
    Community Tool Box
    guide/toolkit
    This Community Toolbox section covers how to prepare for, conduct, and use information from key informant interviews.
  • EHDI Focus Group Training
    Rainbow Research
    webinar/course
    This 1 hour 15 minute webinar from Rainbow Research discusses how to plan for, conduct, and analyze data from focus groups.
  • Establishing Strong, Sustainable, Cross-Sector Collaborations
    de Beaumont Foundation
    case study, guide/toolkit
    This de Beaumont Foundation webpage provides key actions to establishing strong, sustainable cross-sector collaborations using a case study of a North Carolina health department.
  • Focus Group Tip Sheet
    Racial Equity Tools
    fact sheet
    This 2-page document from Racial Equity Tools provides tips for focus group design with a specific focus on racial equity.
  • Health in all policies: A guide for state and local governments
    Public Health Institute
    guide/toolkit
    This Public Health Institute guide provides direction and action steps for state and local government public health leaders who are interested in working with non-traditional health partners like housing, transportation, education, air quality, parks, criminal justice, energy, and employment agencies on Health in All Policies.
  • Identifying Interested Parties (DOC)
    Minnesota Department of Health
    modifiable template
    This Minnesota Department of Health template assists users to identify people and groups who may have an interest in your community health assessment and planning process.
  • Meaningfully Engaging Youth
    Tamarack Institute
    guide/toolkit
    This Tamarack Institute guide was co-developed with youth leaders and representatives from youth-serving organizations to shine a light on the principles and practices that lead to meaningful youth engagement.
  • Monitoring Collaboration Tool
    Tamarack Institute
    guide/toolkit
    This six-page tool from the Tamarack Institute is designed to help users monitor and assess the quality of a group's collaboration. Use of this tool will encourage participants to reflect on their process and groups dynamics and share perspectives on how to improve their collaboration.
  • Public Health and Quality Improvement Toolbox
    Minnesota Department of Health
    facilitated group activity, guide/toolkit
    This Minnesota Department of Health toolkit includes assessment and planning tools, project management tools, and community and partner engagement tools which could be helpful for community health assessment and community health improvement activities.
  • Public Health Reaching Across Sectors (PHRASES)
    de Beaumont Foundation, Aspen Institute
    guide/toolkit
    Evidence-based framing and messaging tools and strategies to help public health professionals communicate across sectors, from de Beaumont Foundation and The Aspen Institute.
  • Public Participation Spectrum (PDF)
    International Association for Public Participation
    This International Association for Public Participation graphic outlines the spectrum of public participation from informing to empowering, an important consideration for engaging partners in the community health assessment and community health improvement process.
  • Work Together Guide
    County Health Rankings and Roadmaps
    guide/toolkit
    This County Health Rankings and Roadmaps toolbox for collaboration includes 9 key activities and multiple tools for recruiting diverse partners, managing boundaries, building relationships, building a common knowledge base, developing a vision, values, and a mission, determining organizational structure, developing leadership capacity, and reinforcing healthy partnership practices.
Community health assessment (CHA) development
  • CHA-CHIP Timeline Template (DOC)
    Minnesota Department of Health
    modifiable template
    This modifiable template by the Minnesota Department of Health can be used to plan a timeline for your community health assessment and improvement planning process.
  • Community Health Assessment Toolkit
    American Hospital Association Community Health Improvement
    guide/toolkit
    This toolkit from the American Hospital Association Community Health Improvement (ACHI) lays out a nine-step pathway for conducting a community health assessment and developing implementation strategies.
  • An Introduction to Community Assessment and Data Collection
    Region IV Public Health Training Center
    webinar/course
    This 40-minute self-paced course from the Region IV Public Health Training Center provides an introduction to community assessment, data collection, and sharing data findings. It is an introductory-level course designed to build competence in data analytics, assessment, and community engagement.
Community health improvement plan (CHIP) development, monitoring, and revision
  • CHA-CHIP Timeline Template (DOC)
    Minnesota Department of Health
    modifiable template
    This modifiable template by the Minnesota Department of Health can be used to plan a timeline for your community health assessment and improvement planning process.
  • Community Health Assessment Toolkit
    American Hospital Association Community Health Improvement
    guide/toolkit
    This toolkit from the American Hospital Association Community Health Improvement (ACHI) lays out a nine-step pathway for conducting a community health assessment and developing implementation strategies.
  • Community Health Improvement Matrix (PDF)
    National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO)
    report/article
    This matrix from the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) can be used to classify potential interventions by prevention (primary to tertiary) and intervention (individual to public policy) levels. For additional information on how to use the resource, visit: The Community Health Improvement Matrix (PDF).
  • Community Health Improvement Planning Collaborative Handbook
    Kansas Health Institute
    guide/toolkit
    This handbook by the Kansas Health Institute lays out steps for collaboratively completing the community health improvement process and includes worksheets for developing the community health improvement plan.
  • Community Preventive Services (Guide)
    The Community Guide
    guide/toolkit, sample policy
    The Guide to Community Preventive Services from The Community Guide is a collection of evidence-based findings of the Community Preventive Services Task Force. It is a resource to help users identify interventions to improve health and prevent disease.
  • Embracing Equity in Community Health Improvement
    Health Resources in Action
    report/article
    This Health Resources in Action report gives a high-level overview of the community health improvement process. ​It might be used by someone new to community health assessment and planning who would like a general overview that focuses on equity. It could also be used as an activity for a multi-sector team just starting out on a community health assessment or community health improvement plan to familiarize them with the process.
  • Equity and Empowerment Lens
    Multnomah County
    assessment
    This assessment tool from Multnomah County, OR helps users consider equity-related impacts of an issue, program, or policy decision, and contains tools to support action steps for advancing equity.
  • Gathering Information: Monitoring your Progress 
    Community Tool Box
    guide/toolkit
    This Community Toolbox section provides information and resources for monitoring progress on community initiatives.
  • Indicator Criteria Matrix 
    National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO)
    modifiable template
    This National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) editable matrix from Mobilizing for Action through Planning and Partnerships (MAPP) 2.0's Community Status Assessment supplementary tools can help users decide which indicators to include in the community health assessment and improvement plan. This resource is available in NACCHO's MAPP tool repository. To learn how to access NACCHO tools, visit: Instructions for the MAPP network (PDF).
  • Influencing Policy Development
    Community Tool Box
    guide/toolkit
    This Community Tool Box toolkit provides guidance and examples for bringing about policy change in organizations and communities.
  • Measuring Success: Evaluating Comprehensive Community Initiatives
    Community Tool Box
    guide/toolkit
    This Community Toolbox section provides information and step-by-step instructions for evaluating community initiatives.
  • Plan to Plan CHIP 1 - A Community Health Improvement Plan
    Region V Public Health Training Center
    webinar/course
    Part 1 of the 3 part webinar series (1 hour each) from Region V Public Health Training Center provides participants with the knowledge, tools, and resources needed to prepare for community health improvement planning within their communities. Participants will be introduced to the process of writing a community health improvement plan. This content is aligned with PHAB 1.5 standards and measures.
  • Plan to Plan CHIP 2 - Community Health Priorities
    Region V Public Health Training Center
    webinar/course
    Part 2 of the 3 part webinar series (1 hour each) from Region V Public Health Training Center focuses on health prioritization. The series provides participants with the knowledge, tools, and resources needed to prepare for community health improvement planning within their communities. Participants will be introduced to the process of writing a community health improvement plan. This content is aligned with PHAB 1.5 standards and measures.
  • Plan to Plan CHIP 3 - Writing your CHIP
    Region V Public Health Training Center
    webinar/course
    Part 3 of the 3 part webinar series (1 hour each) from Region V Public Health Training Center focuses on writing the community health improvement plan. The series provides participants with the knowledge, tools, and resources needed to prepare for community health improvement planning within their communities. This content is aligned with PHAB 1.5 standards and measures.
  • Racial Equity and Social Justice Tool
    City of Madison
    assessment
    This 8-page assessment tool from the City of Madison, WI evaluates how decisions might impact low-income populations and communities of color. It gives brief instructions on completion, and then provides a set of analysis questions for evaluating governmental actions like policies, proposals, or position descriptions. The assessment focuses on asking the evaluator a series of what, who, why, and where questions, while the resulting recommendations emphasize how to move forward.
  • SMART Objectives (Evaluation Brief 3b) (PDF)
    Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
    fact sheet
    This 2-page Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) brief includes an overview of SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound) objectives, how to write them, a checklist, and examples. Community health improvement plans should contain SMART objectives.
  • Writing Meaningful Goals and SMART Objectives
    Minnesota Department of Health
    webinar/course
    This 35-minute webinar from the Minnesota Department of Health overviews writing meaningful goals and specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely (SMART) objectives which may be used in a community health improvement plan.
Community meetings
  • Allegories on Race and Racism
    Camara Jones via TEDx Talks
    video
    In this 20-minute TEDx event video, Dr. Camara Jones, MD, MPH, PhD, shares four allegories on race and racism. The goal is that these stories empower people to take action to reduce racism and its impact on health. This video could be shared at a meeting with community partners to provide a basis for discussion/to educate about health equity.
  • Cliff Analogy of Health
    Camara Jones via Denver University
    video
    In this 15-minute video, Dr. Camara Jones, MD, MPH, PhD, presents the Cliff Analogy, using a "cliff of good health" to show the impact of social conditions on health. This video could be used to help staff and community members discuss the importance of addressing not just acute care needs, but also social conditions that affect health—including systems, structures, and policies.
  • Common Language Group Activity Quick Guide (PDF) and Card Set (PDF)
    University of Minnesota Extension
    facilitated group activity
    Partners come from different backgrounds and do not always have the same understanding of terms when communicating with each other. In this group activity created by Annette Shepardson from the University of Minnesota Extension, participants interact with each other to gain a better understanding of terms typically used in health promotion work.
  • Community Perspectives Group Activity Quick Guide (PDF) and Character Cards (PDF)
    University of Minnesota Extension
    facilitated group activity
    In this group activity created by Annette Shepardson from the University of Minnesota Extension, participants take on designated roles and participate in a mock community engagement meeting. Participants are encouraged to see community health challenges with a fresh perspective.
  • Creating Dynamic Presentations (Guide)
    Northwest Center for Public Health Practice
    video
    This series of short videos from the Northwest Center for Public Health Practice presents information on how to design a presentation that will engage your audience and clearly deliver your message. Note: you must create a free PH LearnLink account to access the videos.
  • Data Equity Walk
    The Education Trust West
    facilitated group activity
    This site from The Education Trust West describes how to plan a data equity walk, a process that allows people to observe, become familiar with, and reflect on data. Included in the materials are planning questions and a facilitation guide.
  • Facilitation Techniques Library
    SessionLab
    facilitated group activity
    Session Lab has a library of facilitation techniques that can be used in the community health assessment and community health improvement planning processes.
  • Health and Well-Being for All: Accelerating Learning about Social Determinants
    CDC Foundation
    facilitated group activity, guide/toolkit
    This CDC foundation "meeting in a box" contains interactive meeting materials that can be used to discuss the factors that affect overall health and how to take action. This tool promotes teamwork and cross-sector collaboration to address social determinants of health.
  • Identifying Interested Parties (DOC)
    Minnesota Department of Health
    modifiable template
    This Minnesota Department of Health template assists users to identify people and groups who may have an interest in your community health assessment and planning process.
  • Innovative Approaches to Reconnecting through Community Conversations, Part 2 - Conversation Cafe
    Tamarack Institute
    facilitated group activity
    This 4-page field note by Dan Ritchie for the Tamarack Institute explores the Conversation Café/World Cafe facilitation process, promoting small group conversations on a single question at a time. It includes an overview, tips, and links to additional resources.
  • Liberating Structures
    Keith McCandless and Henri Lipmanowicz
    facilitated group activity
    These facilitation tools and practices from Liberating Structures can be used to help teams engage and work better together to produce results. They may be used with partners involved in the community health assessment and community health improvement planning processes.
  • Monitoring Collaboration Tool
    Tamarack Institute
    guide/toolkit
    This 6-page tool from the Tamarack Institute is designed to help users monitor and assess the quality of a group's collaboration. Use of this tool will encourage participants to reflect on their process and groups dynamics and share perspectives on how to improve their collaboration.
  • Public Health and Quality Improvement Toolbox
    Minnesota Department of Health
    facilitated group activity, guide/toolkit
    This Minnesota Department of Health toolkit includes assessment and planning tools, project management tools, and community and partner engagement tools which could be helpful for community health assessment and community health improvement activities.
  • Work Together Guide
    County Health Rankings and Roadmaps
    guide/toolkit
    This County Health Rankings and Roadmaps toolbox for collaboration includes 9 key activities and multiple tools for recruiting diverse partners, managing boundaries, building relationships, building a common knowledge base, developing a vision, values, and a mission, determining organizational structure, developing leadership capacity, and reinforcing healthy partnership practices.
Data collection, analysis, and communication
  • Analyzing Qualitative Data for Evaluation (Evaluation Brief 19 (PDF)
    Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
    fact sheet
    This 2-page Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) brief includes an overview of qualitative data, how to plan for qualitative data analysis, how to analyze qualitative data, and the advantages and disadvantages of qualitative data.
  • Checklist to Evaluate the Quality of Questions (Evaluation Brief 15) (PDF)
    Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
    fact sheet
    This 2-page Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) checklist of the Question Appraisal System (QAS-99) is a method for identifying and fixing miscommunication and other types of problems with questionnaire (survey) questions.
  • Community Assessment: Conducting Surveys
    Region IV Public Health Training Center
    webinar/course
    This 45-minute self-paced course from the Region IV Public Health Training Center provides an introduction to planning for and conducting community surveys and analyzing and disseminating survey data for community assessment. It is an introductory-level course designed to build competence in data analytics, assessment, and community engagement.
  • Community Assessment: Conducting Windshield and Walking Surveys
    Region IV Public Health Training Center
    webinar/course
    This 40-minute self-paced course from the Region IV Public Health Training Center introduces the components of windshield and walking surveys, explains the data collection and analysis process, and discusses how observational data can be used to inform subsequent phases of the community assessment.
  • Community Walking Assessment Quick Guide (PDF), Participant Guide (PDF), and Presentation Slides (PPT)
    University of Minnesota Extension
    assessment, facilitated group activity
    The Community Walking Assessment from the University of Minnesota Extension is a guide for assessing community environments and identifying how these environments support or hinder healthy lifestyles. Resources include a PowerPoint describing the walking assessment process and providing discussion/reflection questions, a participant guide (a worksheet to be filled out during the assessment), and a facilitator-focused quick guide.
  • Conducting Focus Groups
    Community Tool Box
    guide/toolkit
    This Community Tool Box section covers how to plan, prepare, conduct, and use focus group results to receive qualitative data for deeper understanding of community issues.
  • Conducting Key Informant Interviews
    Community Tool Box
    guide/toolkit
    This Community Toolbox section covers how to prepare for, conduct, and use information from key informant interviews.
  • County-Level Health Indicators
    Minnesota Department of Health
    The county-level health indicators spreadsheet provides links to county-level health data from various sources. MDH has gathered these indicators to assist Minnesota's local health departments and community health boards in their community health assessment and community health improvement planning processes.
  • Creating Dynamic Presentations (Guide)
    Northwest Center for Public Health Practice
    video
    This series of short videos from the Northwest Center for Public Health Practice presents information on how to design a presentation that will engage your audience and clearly deliver your message. Note: you must create a free PH LearnLink account to access the videos.
  • Data Collection Methods for Program Evaluation: Interviews (Evaluation Brief 17) (PDF)
    Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
    fact sheet
    This 2-page Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) brief includes a basic overview of interviews, when to use them, how to plan and conduct them, and their advantages and disadvantages.
  • Data Collection Methods for Program Evaluation: Questionnaires (Evaluation Brief 14) (PDF)
    Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
    fact sheet
    This 2-page Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) brief provides a basic overview of questionnaires (surveys), when to use them, how to plan and develop them, and their advantages and disadvantages.
  • Data Equity Walk
    The Education Trust West
    facilitated group activity
    This site from The Education Trust West describes how to plan a data equity walk, a process that allows people to observe, become familiar with, and reflect on data. Included in the materials are planning questions and a facilitation guide.
  • Data Issues in Jurisdictions with Small Populations (Tip Sheet) (DOC)
    National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO)
    fact sheet
    This 2-page National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) document includes tips for data collection and interpretation for small populations.
  • Data Visualization Tips
    GeckoBoard
    report/article
    This GeckoBoard webpage provides tips and best practices for data visualization, including how to avoid distorting data.
  • Data: Quality, Analysis, and Interpretation
    Minnesota Department of Health
    guide/toolkit
    This section of the Minnesota Department of Health's Quality Improvement (QI) toolbox includes information on finding county level data, evaluating data quality, and basics regarding data interpretation and presentation.
  • Do No Harm Guide: Applying Equity Awareness in Data Visualization (PDF)
    Urban Institute
    guide/toolkit
    This guide by Jonathan Schwabish and Alice Feng from the Urban Institute is focused on the often hidden or subtle ways that data analysts and communicators fail to incorporate equitable awareness in the data they use and the products they create.
  • EHDI Focus Group Training
    Rainbow Research
    webinar/course
    This 1 hour 15 minute webinar from Rainbow Research discusses how to plan for, conduct, and analyze data from focus groups.
  • Equitable Data Collection Toolkit: A Toolkit for Designing and Distributing Surveys
    City of Long Beach
    guide/toolkit
    This toolkit from the City of Long Beach provides information on equitably designing and distributing community surveys.
  • Focus Group Tip Sheet
    Racial Equity Tools
    fact sheet
    This 2-page document from Racial Equity Tools provides tips for focus group design with a specific focus on racial equity.
  • Health Equity Data Analysis (HEDA)
    Minnesota Department of Health
    guide/toolkit
    ​This guide by the Minnesota Department of Health provides a detailed process for analyzing health inequities in a local jurisdiction. The guide describes how to use data to identify health differences between population groups, instead of only examining the population as a whole. The process includes steps to identify and examine the causes of population differences in health and emphasizes the importance of working in partnership at every step with communities experiencing inequities
  • Health Trends Across Communities (HTAC): HTAC is an innovative, cross-sector data collaboration that uses summary electronic health record (EHR) data to create community health dashboards. Users can explore prevalence estimates for mental health, substance use, chronic conditions, maternal healthcare, and other priority health issues from the state down to the census tract level. HTAC summary data are based on diagnosis codes and come from the 11 largest health systems in the state, representing more than 90% of Minnesotans. Visit the HTAC webpage to learn more about potential uses and limitations.
  • Increasing Questionnaire Response Rates (Evaluation Brief 21) (PDF)
    Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
    fact sheet
    This 2-page Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) brief describes the importance of boosting questionnaire (survey) response rates to increase the validity and usefulness of results. It includes an explanation of response rates and strategies to increase them.
  • Indicator Criteria Matrix 
    National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO)
    modifiable template
    This National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) editable matrix from Mobilizing for Action through Planning and Partnerships (MAPP) 2.0's Community Status Assessment supplementary tools can help users decide which indicators to include in the community health assessment and improvement plan. This resource is available in NACCHO's MAPP tool repository. To learn how to access NACCHO tools, visit: Instructions for the MAPP network (PDF).
  • Information Gathering Methods for Engaging the Community and Gathering Feedback (PDF)
    Minnesota Department of Health
    fact sheet
    This document by Jamie Thompson (adapted from Minnesota Public Health Corps and National Association of County and City Health Officials materials) features a table with descriptions of various data gathering methods for assessment or community feedback.
  • An Introduction to Community Assessment and Data Collection
    Region IV Public Health Training Center
    webinar/course
    This 40-minute self-paced course from the Region IV Public Health Training Center provides an introduction to community assessment, data collection, and sharing data findings. It is an introductory-level course designed to build competence in data analytics, assessment, and community engagement.
  • Principles for Advancing Equitable Data Practice (PDF)
    Urban Institute
    report/article
    This 6-page document from the Urban Institute describes the importance of equitable data collection and provides principles and resources.
  • Qualitative Methods in Public Health Practice Course
    Region V Public Health Training Center
    webinar/course
    This free Region V Public Health Training Center course provides an overview of qualitative research methods, including common study designs, processes for data management, and considerations for interpreting findings. Module 1 is 20 minutes, module 2 is 20 minutes, and module 3 is 40 minutes.
  • Secondary Data Resources
    National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO)
    This excel sheet of secondary data sources from National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) can help users find secondary data for their community health assessment and community health improvement plan. It includes descriptions, focus areas, time period for updates, and level of availability (state, county, city, zip code, district, tribal). This resource is available in NACCHO's MAPP tool repository. To learn how to access NACCHO tools, visit: Instructions for the MAPP network (PDF).
  • Unfair Comparisons: How Visualizing Social Inequality Can Make it Worse
    Eli Holder via Nightingale
    report/article
    This article by Eli Holder discusses research showing that common data visualization practices can often result in in a deficit framing effect which can lead to blaming groups with worse social outcomes for those outcomes. It discusses the evidence and the importance of framing and showing variability in data.
  • Using Electronic Health Data for Community Health (PDF)
    de Beaumont Foundation
    report/article
    This report from de Beaumont Foundation and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health sets out examples of how a public health agency might use electronic health data to make progress on a health priority, in this example, childhood asthma.
  • Using Incentives to Boost Response Rates (Evaluation Brief 22) (PDF)
    Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
    fact sheet
    This 2-page Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) brief focuses on how using incentives can help increase questionnaire (survey) response rates. It explains why and when incentives should be used, types of incentives, and other considerations.
  • Using Ordered Response Options to Collect Evaluation Data (Evaluation Brief 23)
    Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
    fact sheet
    This 2-page Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) brief focuses on using ordered response options in surveys. It includes the definition, how to create good sets of options, how to analyze and present the data collected; and advantages and disadvantages.
Frameworks and processes
  • Achieving Equitable Outcomes with Results-Based Accountability
    Clear Impact
    webinar/course
    This 1-hour webinar from Clear Impact discusses how to focus on equity using Results-Based Accountability (RBA), a planning and decision-making framework. It provides a brief overview of the RBA process.
  • BARHII Framework
    Bay Area Regional Health Inequities Initiative (BARHII)
    This conceptual framework (diagram) from the Bay Area Regional Health Inequities Initiative (BARHII) illustrates the connection between social inequalities and health, and focuses attention on measures which have not characteristically been within the scope of public health epidemiology.
  • Community Health Assessment Toolkit
    American Hospital Association Community Health Improvement
    guide/toolkit
    This toolkit from the American Hospital Association Community Health Improvement (ACHI) lays out a nine-step pathway for conducting a community health assessment and developing implementation strategies.
  • Community Health Improvement Planning Collaborative Handbook
    Kansas Health Institute
    guide/toolkit
    This handbook by the Kansas Health Institute lays out steps for collaboratively completing the community health improvement process and includes worksheets for developing the community health improvement plan.
  • Measuring Success: Evaluating Comprehensive Community Initiatives
    Community Tool Box
    guide/toolkit
    This Community Toolbox section provides information and step-by-step instructions for evaluating community initiatives.
  • Mobilizing for Action through Planning and Partnerships (MAPP)
    National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO)
    guide/toolkit
    This National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) website provides resources for each phase of the Mobilizing for Action through Planning and Partnerships (MAPP) process, a community-driven strategic planning process for improving community health.
  • Plan to Plan CHIP 1 - A Community Health Improvement Plan
    Region V Public Health Training Center
    webinar/course
    Part 1 of the 3 part webinar series (1 hour each) from Region V Public Health Training Center provides participants with the knowledge, tools, and resources needed to prepare for community health improvement planning within their communities. Participants will be introduced to the process of writing a community health improvement plan. This content is aligned with PHAB 1.5 standards and measures.
  • Plan to Plan CHIP 2 - Community Health Priorities
    Region V Public Health Training Center
    webinar/course
    Part 2 of the 3 part webinar series (1 hour each) from Region V Public Health Training Center focuses on health prioritization. The series provides participants with the knowledge, tools, and resources needed to prepare for community health improvement planning within their communities. Participants will be introduced to the process of writing a community health improvement plan. This content is aligned with PHAB 1.5 standards and measures.
  • Plan to Plan CHIP 3 - Writing your CHIP
    Region V Public Health Training Center
    webinar/course
    Part 3 of the 3 part webinar series (1 hour each) from Region V Public Health Training Center focuses on writing the community health improvement plan. The series provides participants with the knowledge, tools, and resources needed to prepare for community health improvement planning within their communities. This content is aligned with PHAB 1.5 standards and measures.
  • Public Health Accreditation Board 2022 Standards and Measures
    Public Health Accreditation Board
    Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB) 2022 Standards and Measures provide official guidance for PHAB national public health department accreditation. They also serve as best practices for those not pursuing accreditation.
  • Results-Based Accountability Guide
    Clear Impact
    guide/toolkit
    This guide by Clear Impact is intended for those working to implement Results-Based Accountability, a planning and decision-making framework, in their community. Note: an email is required to download.
  • Results-Based Accountability Tools
    Clear Impact
    guide/toolkit
    This Clear Impact web page includes exercises, documents, and resources related to Results-Based Accountability, a planning and decision-making framework communities use for community health assessment and improvement planning.
  • Social Determinants and Social Needs: Moving Beyond Midstream (PDF)
    de Beaumont Foundation
    This de Beaumont Foundation infographic portrays health strategies and tactics along a stream, from downstream to upstream interventions.
Health equity
  • Achieving Equity with Results-Based Accountability
    Clear Impact
    webinar/course
    This 1.5-hour webinar from Clear Impact describes how to use the framework and tools of Results-Based Accountability (RBA) to work toward greater equity in a community.
  • Achieving Equitable Outcomes with Results-Based Accountability
    Clear Impact
    webinar/course
    This 1-hour webinar from Clear Impact discusses how to focus on equity using Results-Based Accountability (RBA), a planning and decision-making framework. It provides a brief overview of the RBA process.
  • Allegories on Race and Racism
    Camara Jones via TEDx Talks
    video
    In this 20-minute TEDx event video, Dr. Camara Jones, MD, MPH, PhD, shares four allegories on race and racism. The goal is that these stories empower people to take action to reduce racism and its impact on health. This video could be shared at a meeting with community partners to provide a basis for discussion/to educate about health equity.
  • Cliff Analogy of Health
    Camara Jones via Denver University
    video
    In this 15-minute video, Dr. Camara Jones, MD, MPH, PhD, presents the Cliff Analogy, using a "cliff of good health" to show the impact of social conditions on health. This video could be used to help staff and community members discuss the importance of addressing not just acute care needs, but also social conditions that affect health—including systems, structures, and policies.
  • Effective Communication
    Windsor-Essex County Health Unit
    guide/toolkit
    This 4-page excerpt (start on p. 14) from Windsor-Essex County Health Unit's toolkit, No barriers, health equity for all: Toolkit and practical guide for health and community service providers identifies strategies for communicating about health equity and social determinants of health. It describes the importance of inclusive language, guidelines for effective communication, and alternative ways to describe health equity for different audiences.
  • Embracing Equity in Community Health Improvement
    Health Resources in Action
    report/article
    This Health Resources in Action report gives a high-level overview of the community health improvement process. ​It might be used by someone new to community health assessment and planning who would like a general overview that focuses on equity. It could also be used as an activity for a multi-sector team just starting out on a community health assessment or community health improvement plan to familiarize them with the process.
  • Equitable Data Collection Toolkit: A Toolkit for Designing and Distributing Surveys
    City of Long Beach
    guide/toolkit
    This toolkit from the City of Long Beach provides information on equitably designing and distributing community surveys.
  • Equity and Empowerment Lens
    Multnomah County
    assessment
    This assessment tool from Multnomah County, OR helps users consider equity-related impacts of an issue, program, or policy decision, and contains tools to support action steps for advancing equity.
  • Health Equity Data Analysis (HEDA)
    Minnesota Department of Health
    guide/toolkit
    ​This guide by the Minnesota Department of Health provides a detailed process for analyzing health inequities in a local jurisdiction. The guide describes how to use data to identify health differences between population groups, instead of only examining the population as a whole. The process includes steps to identify and examine the causes of population differences in health and emphasizes the importance of working in partnership at every step with communities experiencing inequities
  • HealthEquityGuide.org
    Human Impact Partners
    guide/toolkit
    This Human Impact Partners website identifies a set of practices for advancing equity, provides examples of health departments using those practices, and suggests actions and additional resources for health departments to advance health equity.
  • Principles for Advancing Equitable Data Practice (PDF)
    Urban Institute
    report/article
    This 6-page document from the Urban Institute describes the importance of equitable data collection and provides principles and resources.
  • Racial Equity and Social Justice Tool
    City of Madison
    assessment
    This 8-page assessment tool from the City of Madison, WI evaluates how decisions might impact low-income populations and communities of color. It gives brief instructions on completion, and then provides a set of analysis questions for evaluating governmental actions like policies, proposals, or position descriptions. The assessment focuses on asking the evaluator a series of what, who, why, and where questions, while the resulting recommendations emphasize how to move forward.
Identifying health priorities
  • Focus on What's Important
    County Health Rankings and Roadmaps
    guide/toolkit
    This County Health Rankings and Roadmaps webpage lays out in-depth steps and tools for prioritizing health issues.
  • Prioritization Techniques (Guide) (PDF)
    National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO)
    guide/toolkit
    This National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) document describes five widely used options for prioritization including guidance on which technique best fits the needs of your agency, step-by-step instructions for implementation, and practical examples.
  • Public Health and Quality Improvement Toolbox
    Minnesota Department of Health
    facilitated group activity, guide/toolkit
    This Minnesota Department of Health toolkit includes assessment and planning tools, project management tools, and community and partner engagement tools which could be helpful for community health assessment and community health improvement activities.
  • Sample Indicator Prioritization Matrices 
    National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO)
    This editable indicator prioritization matrix from the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) Mobilizing for Action through Planning and Partnerships (MAPP) 2.0's tool repository can be used in the process of determining community health priorities. To learn how to access NACCHO tools, visit: Instructions for the MAPP network (PDF).

 

All resources (alphabetical)

All resources (alphabetical)
  • 10 - Engaging People with Lived/Living Experience
    Alison Homer, Tamarack Institute
    case study, guide/toolkit
    This guide by Alison Homer was written to support poverty-reduction groups to meaningfully engage people with lived/living experience. It highlights new practices and thinking, ideas that can be applied for any health priority issue a community is seeking to address.
  • 101 on One-to-Ones Quick Guide (PDF) and Participant Guide (PDF)
    University of Minnesota, adapted from Jewish Community Action guidance
    This activity created by Annette Shepardson from the University of Minnesota Extension encourages participants to practice having one-to-one conversations in which they listen carefully to understand and, through that understanding, build strong relationships.
  • Achieving Equity with Results-Based Accountability
    Clear Impact
    webinar/course
    This 1.5-hour webinar from Clear Impact describes how to use the framework and tools of Results-Based Accountability (RBA) to work toward greater equity in a community.
  • Achieving Equitable Outcomes with Results-Based Accountability
    Clear Impact
    webinar/course
    This 1-hour webinar from Clear Impact discusses how to focus on equity using Results-Based Accountability (RBA), a planning and decision-making framework. It provides a brief overview of the RBA process.
  • Allegories on Race and Racism
    Camara Jones via TEDx Talks
    video
    In this 20-minute TEDx event video, Dr. Camara Jones, MD, MPH, PhD, shares four allegories on race and racism. The goal is that these stories empower people to take action to reduce racism and its impact on health. This video could be shared at a meeting with community partners to provide a basis for discussion/to educate about health equity.
  • Analyzing Qualitative Data for Evaluation (Evaluation Brief 19 (PDF)
    Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
    fact sheet
    This 2-page Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) brief includes an overview of qualitative data, how to plan for qualitative data analysis, how to analyze qualitative data, and the advantages and disadvantages of qualitative data.
  • BARHII Framework
    Bay Area Regional Health Inequities Initiative (BARHII)
    This conceptual framework (diagram) from the Bay Area Regional Health Inequities Initiative (BARHII) illustrates the connection between social inequalities and health, and focuses attention on measures which have not characteristically been within the scope of public health epidemiology.
  • Checklist to Evaluate the Quality of Questions (Evaluation Brief 15) (PDF)
    Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
    fact sheet
    This 2-page Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) checklist of the Question Appraisal System (QAS-99) is a method for identifying and fixing miscommunication and other types of problems with questionnaire (survey) questions.
  • Circles of Involvement Exercise (PDF)
    National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO)
    facilitated group activity
    This 45-minute small group exercise from the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) involves several steps to identify the public health system and community partners that should be involved in the Mobilizing for Action through Planning and Partnerships (MAPP) process, separating them out into circles of involvement. Requires utilization of this resource as well: Local Assessment Instrument: National Public Health Performance Standards(PDF).
  • Cliff Analogy of Health
    Camara Jones via Denver University
    video
    In this 15-minute video, Dr. Camara Jones, MD, MPH, PhD, presents the Cliff Analogy, using a "cliff of good health" to show the impact of social conditions on health. This video could be used to help staff and community members discuss the importance of addressing not just acute care needs, but also social conditions that affect health—including systems, structures, and policies.
  • CHA-CHIP Timeline Template (DOC)
    Minnesota Department of Health
    modifiable template
    This modifiable template by the Minnesota Department of Health can be used to plan a timeline for your community health assessment and improvement planning process.
  • Common Language Group Activity Quick Guide (PDF) and Card Set (PDF)
    University of Minnesota Extension
    facilitated group activity
    Partners come from different backgrounds and do not always have the same understanding of terms when communicating with each other. In this group activity created by Annette Shepardson from the University of Minnesota Extension, participants interact with each other to gain a better understanding of terms typically used in health promotion work.
  • Communications Plan (DOC)
    Minnesota Department of Health
    modifiable template
    This Minnesota Department of Health resource provides a template for systematically planning and executing communications regarding your community health assessment and planning process.
  • Community Assessment: Conducting Surveys
    Region IV Public Health Training Center
    webinar/course
    This 45-minute self-paced course from the Region IV Public Health Training Center provides an introduction to planning for and conducting community surveys and analyzing and disseminating survey data for community assessment. It is an introductory-level course designed to build competence in data analytics, assessment, and community engagement.
  • Community Assessment: Conducting Windshield and Walking Surveys
    Region IV Public Health Training Center
    webinar/course
    This 40-minute self-paced course from the Region IV Public Health Training Center introduces the components of windshield and walking surveys, explains the data collection and analysis process, and discusses how observational data can be used to inform subsequent phases of the community assessment.
  • Community Engagement Assessment Tool
    Nexus Community Partners
    assessment
    This Nexus Community Partners tool helps organizations improve their community engagement efforts by assessing their activities on a scale from outreach to engagement.
  • Community Health Assessment Toolkit
    American Hospital Association Community Health Improvement
    guide/toolkit
    This toolkit from the American Hospital Association Community Health Improvement (ACHI) lays out a nine-step pathway for conducting a community health assessment and developing implementation strategies.
  • Community Health Improvement Matrix (PDF)
    National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO)
    report/article
    This matrix from the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) can be used to classify potential interventions by prevention (primary to tertiary) and intervention (individual to public policy) levels. For additional information on how to use the resource, visit: The Community Health Improvement Matrix (PDF).
  • Community Health Improvement Planning Collaborative Handbook
    Kansas Health Institute
    guide/toolkit
    This handbook by the Kansas Health Institute lays out steps for collaboratively completing the community health improvement process and includes worksheets for developing the community health improvement plan.
  • Community Perspectives Group Activity Quick Guide (PDF) and Character Cards (PDF)
    University of Minnesota Extension
    facilitated group activity
    In this group activity created by Annette Shepardson from the University of Minnesota Extension, participants take on designated roles and participate in a mock community engagement meeting. Participants are encouraged to see community health challenges with a fresh perspective.
  • Community Preventive Services (Guide)
    The Community Guide
    guide/toolkit, sample policy
    The Guide to Community Preventive Services from The Community Guide is a collection of evidence-based findings of the Community Preventive Services Task Force. It is a resource to help users identify interventions to improve health and prevent disease.
  • Community Walking Assessment Quick Guide (PDF), Participant Guide (PDF), and Presentation Slides (PPT)
    University of Minnesota Extension
    assessment, facilitated group activity
    The Community Walking Assessment from the University of Minnesota Extension is a guide for assessing community environments and identifying how these environments support or hinder healthy lifestyles. Resources include a PowerPoint describing the walking assessment process and providing discussion/reflection questions, a participant guide (a worksheet to be filled out during the assessment), and a facilitator-focused quick guide.
  • Conducting Focus Groups
    Community Tool Box
    guide/toolkit
    This Community Tool Box section covers how to plan, prepare, conduct, and use focus group results to receive qualitative data for deeper understanding of community issues.
  • Conducting Key Informant Interviews
    Community Tool Box
    guide/toolkit
    This Community Toolbox section covers how to prepare for, conduct, and use information from key informant interviews.
  • Confronting Power Dynamics and Engaging the Community's Voice in Collective Impact
    Collective Impact Forum
    video
    This 48-minute panel discussion with community-based advocates and organizers highlights when and how to authentically engage community groups for collective impact. From the Collective Impact Forum.
  • County-Level Health Indicators
    Minnesota Department of Health
    The county-level health indicators spreadsheet provides links to county-level health data from various sources. MDH has gathered these indicators to assist Minnesota's local health departments and community health boards in their community health assessment and community health improvement planning processes.
  • Creating Dynamic Presentations (Guide)
    Northwest Center for Public Health Practice
    video
    This series of short videos from the Northwest Center for Public Health Practice presents information on how to design a presentation that will engage your audience and clearly deliver your message. Note: you must create a free PH LearnLink account to access the videos.
  • Data Collection Methods for Program Evaluation: Interviews (Evaluation Brief 17) (PDF)
    Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
    fact sheet
    This 2-page Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) brief includes a basic overview of interviews, when to use them, how to plan and conduct them, and their advantages and disadvantages.
  • Data Collection Methods for Program Evaluation: Questionnaires (Evaluation Brief 14) (PDF)
    Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
    fact sheet
    This 2-page Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) brief provides a basic overview of questionnaires (surveys), when to use them, how to plan and develop them, and their advantages and disadvantages.
  • Data Equity Walk
    The Education Trust West
    facilitated group activity
    This site from The Education Trust West describes how to plan a data equity walk, a process that allows people to observe, become familiar with, and reflect on data. Included in the materials are planning questions and a facilitation guide.
  • Data Issues in Jurisdictions with Small Populations (Tip Sheet) (DOC)
    National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO)
    fact sheet
    This 2-page National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) document includes tips for data collection and interpretation for small populations.
  • Data Visualization Tips
    GeckoBoard
    report/article
    This GeckoBoard webpage provides tips and best practices for data visualization, including how to avoid distorting data.
  • Data: Quality, Analysis, and Interpretation
    Minnesota Department of Health
    guide/toolkit
    This section of the Minnesota Department of Health's Quality Improvement (QI) toolbox includes information on finding county level data, evaluating data quality, and basics regarding data interpretation and presentation.
  • Do No Harm Guide: Applying Equity Awareness in Data Visualization (PDF)
    Urban Institute
    guide/toolkit
    This guide by Jonathan Schwabish and Alice Feng from the Urban Institute is focused on the often hidden or subtle ways that data analysts and communicators fail to incorporate equitable awareness in the data they use and the products they create.
  • Effective Communication
    Windsor-Essex County Health Unit
    guide/toolkit
    This 4-page excerpt (start on p. 14) from Windsor-Essex County Health Unit's toolkit, No barriers, health equity for all: Toolkit and practical guide for health and community service providers identifies strategies for communicating about health equity and social determinants of health. It describes the importance of inclusive language, guidelines for effective communication, and alternative ways to describe health equity for different audiences.
  • EHDI Focus Group Training
    Rainbow Research
    webinar/course
    This 1 hour 15 minute webinar from Rainbow Research discusses how to plan for, conduct, and analyze data from focus groups.
  • Embracing Equity in Community Health Improvement
    Health Resources in Action
    report/article
    This Health Resources in Action report gives a high-level overview of the community health improvement process. ​It might be used by someone new to community health assessment and planning who would like a general overview that focuses on equity. It could also be used as an activity for a multi-sector team just starting out on a community health assessment or community health improvement plan to familiarize them with the process.
  • Equitable Data Collection Toolkit: A Toolkit for Designing and Distributing Surveys
    City of Long Beach
    guide/toolkit
    This toolkit from the City of Long Beach provides information on equitably designing and distributing community surveys.
  • Equity and Empowerment Lens
    Multnomah County
    assessment
    This assessment tool from Multnomah County, OR helps users consider equity-related impacts of an issue, program, or policy decision, and contains tools to support action steps for advancing equity.
  • Establishing Strong, Sustainable, Cross-Sector Collaborations
    de Beaumont Foundation
    case study, guide/toolkit
    This de Beaumont Foundation webpage provides key actions to establishing strong, sustainable cross-sector collaborations using a case study of a North Carolina health department.
  • Facilitation Techniques Library
    SessionLab
    facilitated group activity
    Session Lab has a library of facilitation techniques that can be used in the community health assessment and community health improvement planning processes.
  • Focus Group Tip Sheet
    Racial Equity Tools
    fact sheet
    This 2-page document from Racial Equity Tools provides tips for focus group design with a specific focus on racial equity.
  • Focus on What's Important
    County Health Rankings and Roadmaps
    guide/toolkit
    This County Health Rankings and Roadmaps webpage lays out in-depth steps and tools for prioritizing health issues.
  • Gathering Information: Monitoring your Progress 
    Community Tool Box
    guide/toolkit
    This Community Toolbox section provides information and resources for monitoring progress on community initiatives.
  • Health and Well-Being for All: Accelerating Learning about Social Determinants
    CDC Foundation
    facilitated group activity, guide/toolkit
    This CDC foundation "meeting in a box" contains interactive meeting materials that can be used to discuss the factors that affect overall health and how to take action. This tool promotes teamwork and cross-sector collaboration to address social determinants of health.
  • Health Equity Data Analysis (HEDA)
    Minnesota Department of Health
    guide/toolkit
    ​This guide by the Minnesota Department of Health provides a detailed process for analyzing health inequities in a local jurisdiction. The guide describes how to use data to identify health differences between population groups, instead of only examining the population as a whole. The process includes steps to identify and examine the causes of population differences in health and emphasizes the importance of working in partnership at every step with communities experiencing inequities.
  • Health in all policies: The what, why, and how...
    Hennepin County
    modifiable template, presentation
    This editable powerpoint presentation by Hennepin County includes basic information for county leaders about how to implement a Health in All Policies (HiAP) approach. The slides and speaker's notes describe the basics of HiAP, including why HiAP is needed, how to conduct HiAP, and an HiAP example from Hennepin County.
  • Health in all policies: A guide for state and local governments
    Public Health Institute
    guide/toolkit
    This Public Health Institute guide provides direction and action steps for state and local government public health leaders who are interested in working with non-traditional health partners like housing, transportation, education, air quality, parks, criminal justice, energy, and employment agencies on Health in All Policies.
  • HealthEquityGuide.org
    Human Impact Partners
    guide/toolkit
    This Human Impact Partners website identifies a set of practices for advancing equity, provides examples of health departments using those practices, and suggests actions and additional resources for health departments to advance health equity.
  • Increasing Questionnaire Response Rates (Evaluation Brief 21) (PDF)
    Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
    fact sheet
    This 2-page Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) brief describes the importance of boosting questionnaire (survey) response rates to increase the validity and usefulness of results. It includes an explanation of response rates and strategies to increase them.
  • Identifying Interested Parties (DOC)
    Minnesota Department of Health
    modifiable template
    This Minnesota Department of Health template assists users to identify people and groups who may have an interest in your community health assessment and planning process.
  • Indicator Criteria Matrix 
    National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO)
    modifiable template
    This National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) editable matrix from Mobilizing for Action through Planning and Partnerships (MAPP) 2.0's Community Status Assessment supplementary tools can help users decide which indicators to include in the community health assessment and improvement plan. This resource is available in NACCHO's MAPP tool repository. To learn how to access NACCHO tools, visit: Instructions for the MAPP network (PDF).
  • Influencing Policy Development
    Community Tool Box
    guide/toolkit
    This Community Tool Box toolkit provides guidance and examples for bringing about policy change in organizations and communities.
  • Information Gathering Methods for Engaging the Community and Gathering Feedback (PDF)
    Minnesota Department of Health
    fact sheet
    This document by Jamie Thompson (adapted from Minnesota Public Health Corps and National Association of County and City Health Officials materials) features a table with descriptions of various data gathering methods for assessment or community feedback.
  • Innovative Approaches to Reconnecting through Community Conversations, Part 2 - Conversation Cafe
    Tamarack Institute
    facilitated group activity
    This 4-page field note by Dan Ritchie for the Tamarack Institute explores the Conversation Café/World Cafe facilitation process, promoting small group conversations on a single question at a time. It includes an overview, tips, and links to additional resources.
  • An Introduction to Community Assessment and Data Collection
    Region IV Public Health Training Center
    webinar/course
    This 40-minute self-paced course from the Region IV Public Health Training Center provides an introduction to community assessment, data collection, and sharing data findings. It is an introductory-level course designed to build competence in data analytics, assessment, and community engagement.
  • Liberating Structures
    Keith McCandless and Henri Lipmanowicz
    facilitated group activity
    These facilitation tools and practices from Liberating Structures can be used to help teams engage and work better together to produce results. They may be used with partners involved in the community health assessment and community health improvement planning processes.
  • Meaningfully Engaging Youth
    Tamarack Institute
    guide/toolkit
    This Tamarack Institute guide was co-developed with youth leaders and representatives from youth-serving organizations to shine a light on the principles and practices that lead to meaningful youth engagement.
  • Measuring Success: Evaluating Comprehensive Community Initiatives
    Community Tool Box
    guide/toolkit
    This Community Toolbox section provides information and step-by-step instructions for evaluating community initiatives.
  • Mobilizing for Action through Planning and Partnerships (MAPP)
    National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO)
    guide/toolkit
    This National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) website provides resources for each phase of the Mobilizing for Action through Planning and Partnerships (MAPP) process, a community-driven strategic planning process for improving community health.
  • Monitoring and Revising the Community Health Improvement Plan: Process Guide and Worksheet
    Minnesota Department of Health
    guide/toolkit
    This Minnesota Department of Health guide and worksheet provides users with tools for observing and tracking progress toward accomplishing the goals and objectives identified in the community health improvement plan. It also provides guiding questions to consider for determining if a revision is needed.
  • Monitoring Collaboration Tool
    Tamarack Institute
    guide/toolkit
    This 6-page tool from the Tamarack Institute is designed to help users monitor and assess the quality of a group's collaboration. Use of this tool will encourage participants to reflect on their process and groups dynamics and share perspectives on how to improve their collaboration.
  • Narratives and Health Equity: Expanding the Conversation
    Minnesota Department of Health
    guide/toolkit
    This Minnesota Department of Health web page has links to explanations of public narratives, examples of emerging public health narratives, and training and tools for public narratives. Using a public narrative approach can help expand conversations with partners across sectors to include the social and economic conditions that shape health and well-being and to suggest actions to advance health equity.
  • Plan to Plan CHIP 1 - A Community Health Improvement Plan
    Region V Public Health Training Center
    webinar/course
    Part 1 of the 3 part webinar series (1 hour each) from Region V Public Health Training Center provides participants with the knowledge, tools, and resources needed to prepare for community health improvement planning within their communities. Participants will be introduced to the process of writing a community health improvement plan. This content is aligned with PHAB 1.5 standards and measures.
  • Plan to Plan CHIP 2 - Community Health Priorities
    Region V Public Health Training Center
    webinar/course
    Part 2 of the 3 part webinar series (1 hour each) from Region V Public Health Training Center focuses on health prioritization. The series provides participants with the knowledge, tools, and resources needed to prepare for community health improvement planning within their communities. Participants will be introduced to the process of writing a community health improvement plan. This content is aligned with PHAB 1.5 standards and measures.
  • Plan to Plan CHIP 3 - Writing your CHIP
    Region V Public Health Training Center
    webinar/course
    Part 3 of the 3 part webinar series (1 hour each) from Region V Public Health Training Center focuses on writing the community health improvement plan. The series provides participants with the knowledge, tools, and resources needed to prepare for community health improvement planning within their communities. This content is aligned with PHAB 1.5 standards and measures.
  • Principles for Advancing Equitable Data Practice (PDF)
    Urban Institute
    report/article
    This 6-page document from the Urban Institute describes the importance of equitable data collection and provides principles and resources.
  • Principles of Community Engagement, Second Edition
    Clinical and Translational Science Awards Consortium (CTSA) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
    guide/toolkit
    This resource from Clinical and Translational Science Awards Consortium (CTSA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is a foundational publication that describes how to engage a community effectively, and outlines the capacities an organization needs in order to do so.
  • Prioritization Techniques (Guide) (PDF)
    National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO)
    guide/toolkit
    This National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) document describes five widely used options for prioritization including guidance on which technique best fits the needs of your agency, step-by-step instructions for  implementation, and practical examples.
  • Public Health Accreditation Board 2022 Standards and Measures
    Public Health Accreditation Board
    Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB) 2022 Standards and Measures provide official guidance for PHAB national public health department accreditation. They also serve as best practices for those not pursuing accreditation.
  • Public Health and Quality Improvement Toolbox
    Minnesota Department of Health
    facilitated group activity, guide/toolkit
    This Minnesota Department of Health toolkit includes assessment and planning tools, project management tools, and community and partner engagement tools which could be helpful for community health assessment and community health improvement activities.
  • Public Health Reaching Across Sectors (PHRASES)
    de Beaumont Foundation, Aspen Institute
    guide/toolkit
    Evidence-based framing and messaging tools and strategies to help public health professionals communicate across sectors, from de Beaumont Foundation and The Aspen Institute.
  • Public Participation Spectrum (PDF)
    International Association for Public Participation
    This International Association for Public Participation graphic outlines the spectrum of public participation from informing to empowering, an important consideration for engaging partners in the community health assessment and community health improvement process.
  • Qualitative Methods in Public Health Practice Course
    Region V Public Health Training Center
    webinar/course
    This free Region V Public Health Training Center course provides an overview of qualitative research methods, including common study designs, processes for data management, and considerations for interpreting findings. Module 1 is 20 minutes, module 2 is 20 minutes, and module 3 is 40 minutes.
  • Racial Equity and Social Justice Tool
    City of Madison
    assessment
    This 8-page assessment tool from the City of Madison, WI evaluates how decisions might impact low-income populations and communities of color. It gives brief instructions on completion, and then provides a set of analysis questions for evaluating governmental actions like policies, proposals, or position descriptions. The assessment focuses on asking the evaluator a series of what, who, why, and where questions, while the resulting recommendations emphasize how to move forward.
  • Results-Based Accountability Guide
    Clear Impact
    guide/toolkit
    This guide by Clear Impact is intended for those working to implement Results-Based Accountability, a planning and decision-making framework, in their community. Note: an email is required to download.
  • Results-Based Accountability Tools
    Clear Impact
    guide/toolkit
    This Clear Impact web page includes exercises, documents, and resources related to Results-Based Accountability, a planning and decision-making framework communities use for community health assessment and improvement planning.
  • Sample Indicator Prioritization Matrices 
    National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO)
    This editable indicator prioritization matrix from the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) Mobilizing for Action through Planning and Partnerships (MAPP) 2.0's tool repository can be used in the process of determining community health priorities. To learn how to access NACCHO tools, visit: Instructions for the MAPP network (PDF).
  • Secondary Data Resources
    National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO)
    This excel sheet of secondary data sources from National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) can help users find secondary data for their community health assessment and community health improvement plan. It includes descriptions, focus areas, time period for updates, and level of availability (state, county, city, zip code, district, tribal). This resource is available in NACCHO's MAPP tool repository. To learn how to access NACCHO tools, visit: Instructions for the MAPP network (PDF).
  • SMART Objectives (Evaluation Brief 3b) (PDF)
    Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
    fact sheet
    This 2-page Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) brief includes an overview of SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound) objectives, how to write them, a checklist, and examples. Community health improvement plans should contain SMART objectives.
  • Social Determinants and Social Needs: Moving Beyond Midstream (PDF)
    de Beaumont Foundation
    This de Beaumont Foundation infographic portrays health strategies and tactics along a stream, from downstream to upstream interventions.
  • Training for Change Tools
    Training for Change
    facilitated group activity
    Training for Change has a variety of online and in-person facilitation tools that can be used with partners involved in the community health assessment and community health improvement planning processes.
  • Unfair Comparisons: How Visualizing Social Inequality Can Make it Worse
    Eli Holder via Nightingale
    report/article
    This article by Eli Holder discusses research showing that common data visualization practices can often result in in a deficit framing effect which can lead to blaming groups with worse social outcomes for those outcomes. It discusses the evidence and the importance of framing and showing variability in data.
  • Using Electronic Health Data for Community Health (PDF)
    de Beaumont Foundation
    report/article
    This report from de Beaumont Foundation and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health sets out examples of how a public health agency might use electronic health data to make progress on a health priority, in this example, childhood asthma.
  • Using Incentives to Boost Response Rates (Evaluation Brief 22) (PDF)
    Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
    fact sheet
    This 2-page Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) brief focuses on how using incentives can help increase questionnaire (survey) response rates. It explains why and when incentives should be used, types of incentives, and other considerations.
  • Using Ordered Response Options to Collect Evaluation Data (Evaluation Brief 23)
    Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
    fact sheet
    This 2-page Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) brief focuses on using ordered response options in surveys. It includes the definition, how to create good sets of options, how to analyze and present the data collected; and advantages and disadvantages.
  • What are Health Disparities and Health Equity? We Need to Be Clear
    Paula Braverman via Public Health Reports
    report/article
    This two page article by Dr. Paula Braveman, MD, MPH, discusses the need for clarity on concepts of health disparities and health equity. The authors provide plain language definitions along with background information.
  • Work Together Guide
    County Health Rankings and Roadmaps
    guide/toolkit
    This County Health Rankings and Roadmaps toolbox for collaboration includes 9 key activities and multiple tools for recruiting diverse partners, managing boundaries, building relationships, building a common knowledge base, developing a vision, values, and a mission, determining organizational structure, developing leadership capacity, and reinforcing healthy partnership practices.
  • Writing Meaningful Goals and SMART Objectives
    Minnesota Department of Health
    webinar/course
    This 35-minute webinar from the Minnesota Department of Health overviews writing meaningful goals and specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely (SMART) objectives which may be used in a community health improvement plan.

 

Last Updated: 10/08/2024