A Holistic Evaluation of a Community Health Improvement Plan

Inclusive and intersectoral: community health improvement planning opportunities to advance the social determinants of health and health equity

“…Findings also revealed nuances about the ways in which partnership dynamics affected the CHIP development process. Strong collaboration and relationship-building between partners and with the broader community was reported to be one of the greatest facilitators of CHIP development, which aligns with existing literature on public health management and governance that emphasizes the importance of trust and relationship building [ 25 , 50 – 52 ]. We learned that mistrust of even a single partner (e.g., a local university) can impede efforts to collaboratively address the SDoH, despite overall high levels of trust between partners [ 50 ].…”

“…Still, even larger and more well-resourced jurisdictions described the need for “backbone support” to support engagement and the process of prioritizing, executing, and monitoring the CHIP, as many partners at the table have jobs beyond their participation in the CHIP. Indeed, resource limitations are often described as one of the biggest challenges to CHIP planning efforts [ 25 , 52 ]. Other key informants similarly noted that having someone lead who doesn’t have a “vested interest” in any specific public health issue would help manage the diverse voices and interests at the table.…”