Assessment and Planning for Local Public Health
Assessment and planning can help public health departments strategize internally and externally to maximize their efforts to keep their communities and organizations healthy and thriving.
What is assessment and planning?
Assessment and planning include:
Community health assessment (CHA) and improvement planning (CHIP): The CHA identifies what impacts the health of the community and the CHIP finds opportunities to use local resources to make a positive difference.
- Organizational and strategic assessment and planning: Sets internal goals and strategies for the health department.
These processes help community health boards determine public health priorities and focus local resources.
Community health assessment and planning
Community health assessments (CHA) help determine local public health priorities. Community health improvement plans (CHIP) are multi-year action plans to address the CHA’s priorities. Minnesota community health boards are required by law to participate in CHA and CHIP. Learn more about local public health assessment and planning.
Handbook: Community Health Assessment and Planning Handbook for Local Public Health (PDF)
Quick links & resources
- Requirements and how to submit your CHA-CHIP
- Explore Minnesota's CHAs and CHIPs: What are communities working on right now?
- Indicators: County-level health
- Toolkit: Community health assessment and planning
- Download: Tools and templates
- CHA-CHIP Community of Practice
- How does this intersect with LPH Act annual reporting?
- Get help: CHA-CHIP technical assistance
Organizational assessment and strategic planning
Organizational assessment and strategic planning help determine internal priorities and actions.
Overview: Organizational Assessment and Strategic Planning
- Download: Tools and templates
- How does this intersect with LPH Act annual reporting?
- Get help: Organizational technical assistance
- Related: Quality improvement (QI) plans
Requirements and how to submit your CHA-CHIP
CHAs and CHIPs are intended to be living documents. They should be updated as needed to align with the needs, opportunities, and changing situations of the community.
Minnesota law says community health boards must submit a community health assessment (their health priorities) and improvement plan to MDH at least every five years (Minn. Stat. § 145.04, subd. 1a)
Submitting your community health priorities counts as submitting the CHA.
MDH collects health priorities and CHIPs year-round, based on your community health board's most recent approval date (the date it was adopted, enacted, or approved). Learn more and submit: Submit Your Community Health Priorities and Improvement Plans to MDH - MN Dept. of Health
If you have questions about how to submit your CHA-CHIP documents, please contact Melissa Michels at melissa.michels@state.mn.us.
Get help
The MDH Center for Public Health Practice offers support for CHA-CHIPs and organizational planning, including:
- Training
- Tools and templates
- One-on-one help for meeting requirements
- Guidance for monitoring and updating plans
Join the CHA/CHIP Community of Practice: Build capacity around conducting, developing, and implementing a community health assessment and community health improvement plan.
Contact:
- Melissa Michels: melissa.michels@state.mn.us
- Your public health system consultant
- MDH Center for Public Health Practice: health.ophp@state.mn.us