The Community Guide (The Guide to Community Preventive Services), a free resource for evidence-based recommendations and findings from the
Community Preventive Services Task Force, can play a valuable role in the community health improvement efforts of hospitals, health systems, and health departments. To support these organizations in using The Community Guide, the Public Health Foundation (PHF), in collaboration with the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
Association for Community Health Improvement(ACHI)/
Health Research & Educational Trust, and
Catholic Health Association, engaged in a pilot initiative aimed at helping hospitals and health systems use evidence-based recommendations and findings found in The Community Guide to take action and implement community health improvement activities in collaboration with health departments and other community stakeholders.
Begun in late 2015 and ending in 2019, this pilot initiative involved the development and enhancement of informational and training materials related to using The Community Guide to address population health priorities, including a significant update to
ACHI’s Community Health Assessment Toolkit, as well as the provision of training and distance technical assistance.
Training OpportunitiesThe first training event occurred in March 2016, with the broadcast of a
webinar that provided an introduction to The Community Guide, driving forces behind the current focus on community health improvement, plans for ACHI’s Community Health Assessment Toolkit, and a
population health driver diagram framework that can be used for collaborative community health improvement. The archive of this webinar, along with the presentation slides, can be accessed by visiting
Using the Community Guide for Community Health Improvement (Archived Webinar).
In May 2017, a
second webinar shared the experiences of the first two field test sites to participate in this initiative:
WellSpan Health in York, PA and
INTEGRIS in Oklahoma City, OK. These two institutions engaged coalitions involving the local health departments and numerous other stakeholders in their communities in taking action and implementing community health improvement activities to address behavioral health needs. The archive of this webinar, along with the presentation slides, can be accessed by visiting
Moving from Assessment to Action in Community Health Improvement (Archived Webinar).
In May 2018, a
third webinar featured the experiences of the second two field test sites:
Bon Secours Maryview Medical Center in Portsmouth, VA and
Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center in Baton Rouge, LA. These two institutions worked with public health and other community stakeholders to take action to address
obesity and HIV/AIDS and improve the health of their communities. The archive of this webinar, along with the presentation slides, can be accessed by visiting
Taking Action on Community Health Improvement Priorities (Archived Webinar).
Field TestingDuring the pilot initiative, field testing was conducted using the population health driver diagram framework, developed by PHF, to help hospitals, health systems, and their community partners align and implement actions to address identified population health priorities. Four hospitals,
WellSpan Health in York, PA;
INTEGRIS in Oklahoma City, OK;
Bon Secours Maryview Medical Center in Portsmouth, VA; and
Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center in Baton Rouge, LA, served as field test sites to implement this framework in collaboration with community stakeholders to address health priorities in their communities using The Community Guide.
For More InformationQuestions about this initiative may be directed to Kathleen Amos at
kamos@phf.org.
Information about using a population health driver diagram in your own community can be found through
PHF's Performance Improvement Services or by contacting Ron Bialek at
rbialek@phf.org or 202-218-4420.
Latest Updates
This initiative was supported by Cooperative Agreement Number NU38OT000211, funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or the Department of Health and Human Services.