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.