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Community Health Assessment

Assessing the Health of Our Community

How healthy is our community? What are the biggest threats to our health? What can we do to improve the health of our community?  Community Health Assessment is the process through which our community learns more about its health, and designs strategies to improve it. The office of Community Health Assessment works with other community groups to conduct research and disseminate information about our community's health status.

Some important indicators of community health include the leading causes of death, years of potential life lost, and the prevalence of health-related behaviors and environmental factors that pose health risks. But we also take into account people's values and perceptions regarding health. For example, we use surveys to measure the prevalence of health-related behaviors and health problems. But we also survey residents about their attitudes, beliefs and values toward health and health care, and we conduct town hall meetings or focus groups, where we ask people what they think and how they feel about their personal health and the health of the community. The analysis of health data and perceptions provides a framework for measuring progress as we work to improve the quality of life for Ingham County residents.

Do you need help with a health problem? Are you looking for detailed health information? Capital Area Community Voices is a Website  where you learn about how to get help for health problems,  get data, create maps of health information, and participate in on-line discussions about health issues.    

Nation's new Healthy People 2010 Goals Diet and Nutrition Information from 2000 Capital Area BRFS Download a copy of the "Building Healthy Communities" Newsletter

The following is a list of health related issues that you can find more information on: Leading Causes Of Mortality Years Of Potential Life Lost Factors Influencing Health Life Style Behaviors Percent of Adults Who Smoke Heavy & Binge Drinking By All Adults Diet & Activity

Check out these links for further research : CDC Wonder World Health Organization Michigan Department of Community Health Medscape Medline Health System Change