Disease Control and Prevention, the National Center for Health Statistics, America's Health Rankings

Week 3 Written Assignment 1 – Community Health Status Assessment (CHSA)

According to NACCHO’s MAPP User Handbook:

“The Community Health Status Assessment (CHSA) identifies priority community health and quality of life issues. Questions answered include: “How healthy are our residents?” and “What does the health status of our community look like?” The student should research the local and state public health departments, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Center for Health Statistics, America’s Health Rankings, County Health Rankings and other similar web sites. (NACCHO, n.d.)

The student will:

1. Identify the individuals listed as MAPP Task Force members in the Organization Plan who could sit on the CHSA sub-committee.
2. Present and discuss the status and epidemiology of the following (students should note that some of the information has already been researched for the Community Description):
   1. Birth rate
   2. Death rate including the leading causes of death
   3. Top ten communicable diseases
   4. Injury/violence/crime rates
   5. Behavioral risk factors
   6. Social determinants affecting health
   A narrative description of the highlights of the above information should be included in the body of the paper where a table of the requested data may be put into an appendix.
3. Identify challenges and opportunities related to the health status of the selected community. The student should consider the following questions when examining the CHSA results (NACCHO, n.d., page 61)
   1. “Does this health problem affect a large number of people, have serious consequences, show evidence of wide disparity between groups or increasing trends, and is it susceptible to proven interventions?
   2. Does the issue have broad implications for potential long-term health improvements?
   3. By addressing this issue, is there potential for a major breakthrough in approaching community health improvement?
   4. Is this issue one that has been persistent, nagging, and seemingly unsolvable?
   5. Does this issue identify a particular strength that can be replicated throughout the community?
   6. Is ongoing monitoring of this issue possible?”

Your paper should be typed, up to five (5) pages in length, and follow the APA Style which includes using a cover page, one inch margins, double spaced, and 12 inch Times New Roman font with a reference page.

Suggestions for Data Sources:

• MAPP Handbook – Phase 3
• Researched resources found for selected community
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, http://www.cdc.gov
• National Center for Health Statistics, http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/
• America’s Health Rankings, http://www.americashealthrankings.org
• County Health Rankings, http://www.countyhealthrankings.org

MPH Competencies Applied:

MPH Competency #3: Demonstrate competencies in biostatistics, epidemiology, and research methods in the community health analysis and plan.

MPH Competency #4: Demonstrate ethical competencies in the community health analysis and plan.

MPH Competency #5: Demonstrate management competencies in the community health analysis and plan.

MPH Competency #6: Demonstrate environmental health competencies in the community health analysis and plan.

MPH Competency #7: Demonstrate public health biology competencies in the community health analysis and plan.

Attached is the grading rubric for the assignment.