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LOCAL HEALTH AUTHORITIES RELEASE PLAN TO IMPROVE COMMUNITY’S HEALTH

(Charlottesville, Va.) — The MAPP 2 Health Leadership Council announced that Planning District 10’s community health assessment and improvement plan are complete and available for review. “This plan is a call to action for organizations and individuals to work together to improve our community’s health,” said Dr. Lilian Peake, Thomas Jefferson Health District (TJHD) Health Director.

TJHD, the University of Virginia’s Department of Public Health Sciences, Martha Jefferson Hospital, Region Ten Community Services Board, and the Jefferson Area Board of Aging launched the assessment and planning initiative in July, 2011. They used the MAPP (Mobilizing for Action through Planning and Partnership) model, a tool developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Association of City and County Health Officials, to bring together stakeholders to identify community health issues and develop actions based on factors that influence the community’s health. More than 60 agencies, including representatives from local governments, schools, community agencies, colleges, non-profits, and health care organizations from across the district met monthly between October 2011 and May 2012 to review and discuss data and to select community health priorities. The MAPP 2 Health Leadership Council provided guidance and developed the Community Health Improvement Plan.

After extensive review of the data, the group identified four district-wide priority community goals:

1. Decrease the percent of persons who are overweight or obese in TJHD by promoting school and corporate wellness programs and by engaging residents in a Move to Health campaign.
2. Decrease the number of poor mental health days among TJHD residents by increasing access to mental health services and decreasing stigmas and fears surrounding mental health issues.
3. Improve pregnancy outcomes in TJHD by increasing the percentage of women who plan pregnancies and receive prenatal care; by targeting interventions towards vulnerable populations; and by promoting clinical smoking cessation interventions.
4. Decrease the percent of persons who use tobacco in TJHD.

For more information or to read the technical report, visit www.tjhd.org.