Northern Kentucky Health and Social Needs Assessment

One of the main thrusts of Northern Kentucky's Vision 2015 strategic planning initiative is to build livable communities. The Health Department has partnered with Vision 2015 to implement the livable community strategy of “conduct ongoing health and social assessments and implement a comprehensive regional approach to meet and fund those needs.”

The 18-month planning process will utilize the National Association of City and County Health Officials' MAPP (Mobilizing for Action through Planning and Partnership) framework. The MAPP process consists of a strategic planning process that utilizes four assessments:

• Local Public Health System Assessment: A chance for those professionals working in the Northern Kentucky public health system to look at the current public health activities and competencies and set priorities for future services

• Community Health Status Assessment: A way to analyze current health data and identify needs for improvement

• Themes and Strengths Assessment: This assessment will include community input to address what health issues Northern Kentucky is currently doing well and what areas need improvement

• Forces of Change Assessment: Long-term trends and health factors will be examined to determine trends that may be affecting the ability of Northern Kentucky to become a healthier community

A MAPP leadership team, consisting of 29 representatives from Northern Kentucky businesses, government agencies and social services agencies, will oversee the development of a plan to meet and fund those health and social needs.

Local Public Health System Assessment
The first step in this continuing community health assessment was conducted in March 2008. More than 50 leaders from local hospitals, schools, fire departments, police departments, nursing homes, the business community, county government and other social service agencies gathered to assess Northern Kentucky’s public health system.  

The framework for the assessment was based on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Public Health Performance Standards program, which is a tool that allows communities to identify, analyze and prioritize local public health needs. Northern Kentucky was one of the first health departments in the nation to utilize this framework in 2001-2002, and recently contributed to the development of a new, more streamlined version, which was used for the recent assessment. Northern Kentucky is among the first in the nation to utilize this new tool.

In July 2008, the local public health assessment group reconvened to examine the results of the local public health system analysis. Their priorities will be reviewed by the MAPP leadership team in August 2008.

Community Health Status Assessment
Work on this assessment began in late summer 2008. Look for additional details soon.

Themes and Strengths Assessment
Work on this assessment will begin in fall 2008.

Forces of Change Assessment
Work on this assessment will begin in fall 2008.

More information
If you are interested in participating in the health and social needs assessment or for more information on it or on the MAPP process, please contact Alan Kalos or Louise Kent at 859.341.4264.