Community Collaborations MAPP MAPP Assessments

MAPP Assessments

One thing that makes MAPP different from other strategic planning tools is the assessment phase. The four MAPP assessments identify challenges and opportunities throughout the community. Community members contribute to this phase by participating in committees that conduct the four assessments. The results of the four MAPP assessments are combined and will serve as the foundation for the next phase - Identify Strategic Issues. Use the links below to learn more about the four MAPP assessments.

Community Themes and Strengths Assessment

The Community Themes and Strengths Assessment answers the questions: "What is important to our community?" "How is quality of life perceived in our community?" and "What assets can we use to improve community health?" This assessment results in a clear understanding of community issues and concerns, perceptions about quality of life and an awareness of community assets.

There are two benefits of including community themes and strengths in the MAPP process. First, community members become vested in the process. They have a sense of ownership of and responsibility for the outcomes. Second, the themes and issues identified here offer insight into the information uncovered during the other assessments.

Avenues for accessing the community include: meetings, dialogue sessions, focus groups, walking or windshield surveys and one-on-one discussions and interviews.

Local Public Health System Assessment

The Local Public Health System Assessment answers the questions: "What are the components, activities and abilities of our local public health system?" and "How are essential services being provided to our community?"

The local public health system consists of all community entities that contribute to the public's health. The assessment helps participants determine how well the system is performing and which areas need improvement.

The essential services provide a definition of public health and a framework for responsibilities of local public health systems. They are standards against which the current performance of local public health systems is measured. Judging performance levels of local public health systems and their components enables them to assess and improve delivery of the essential services and, in turn, achieve improvements in community health.

The essential services:
(These services are designated by the National Association of City and County Health Officials as the core techniques for promoting health and preventing disease.)

  • Monitor health status to identify community health problems.
  • Diagnose and investigate health problems and health hazards in the community.
  • Inform, educate and empower people about health issues.
  • Mobilize community partnerships to identify and solve health problems.
  • Develop policies and plans that support individual and community health efforts.
  • Enforce laws and regulations that protect health and ensure safety.
  • Link people to needed personal health services and assure the provision of health care when otherwise unavailable.
  • Assure a competent public health and personal health care workforce.
  • Evaluate effectiveness, accessibility and quality of personal and population-based health services.
  • Research for new insights and innovative solutions to health problems.

The assessment committee identifies areas that need improvement, activities that should be maintained at current levels and areas where efforts can be decreased to free up resources. The result is a list of opportunities and challenges that will be used to identify strategic issues.

Forces of Change Assessment

The Forces of Change Assessment helps MAPP participants answer the following questions: "What is occurring (or might occur) that affects our community's health or the local public health system?" and "What specific opportunities or threats are generated by these forces?"

Participants engage in brainstorming sessions aimed at identifying forces - trends, factors and events - that are or will be influencing the community's health and quality of life and the local public health system.

Community members participate in brainstorming sessions and focus groups. The assessment committee next reviews its list of forces and identifies possible impacts - potential opportunities and threats - of each force.

Examples of forces include the aging of the population, language and other cultural barriers, and illiteracy.

Community Health Status Assessment

The Community Health Status Assessment answers the questions, "How healthy are our residents?" and "What does the health status of our community look like?" The results provide an understanding of the community's health status and ensure that the community's priorities include specific issues.

The assessment provides a list of core indicators for 11 broad-based categories. Communities may also select additional indicators. By gathering data on each of these and comparing the county's data to trends in other counties as well as state and national data, health issues are identified.

Committee activities include collecting and reviewing data related to the 11 categories listed below. These categories directly measure health and contributing factors that significantly affect community health:

  • Demographic characteristics
  • Socioeconomic characteristics
  • Health resource availability
    Quality of life
  • Behavioral risk factors
  • Environmental health
  • Social and mental health
  • Maternal and child health
  • Death, illness and injury
  • Infectious disease
  • Specific events

Data for these indicators are collected from numerous sources, including the DeKalb County Board of Health Status of Health in DeKalb Report, the Youth Risk Behavior Survey and the Behavior Risk Factor Survey.