UW Population Health Institute Announces Improvements to Resources Focused on Wisconsin Community Health & Equity at http://www.improvingwihealth.org/
University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute (UW PHI) is announcing an upgraded and refreshed website for two Wisconsin community health improvement resources. Improving Wisconsin’s Health (formerly Assessing and Improving Community Health in Wisconsin) and What Works for Health Wisconsin (WWFH WI) are now on a single website, to promote easier use of the resources together.
Users can explore state health priorities alongside strategies for addressing those priorities, featuring implementation examples from Wisconsin. Those familiar with these resources from PHI should find the new site streamlined and more navigable, with the inclusion of new pages on equity-focused projects and links to What Works for Health’s analyst-curated lists of strategies, including strategies for COVID-19 recovery.
The website is “Improving Wisconsin’s Health” at: http://www.improvingwihealth.org/
- Improving Wisconsin’s Health: This database shares current statewide WI community health needs assessments (CHNA/CHA) and community health improvement plans (CHIP), and is searchable by County or by Health Priority areas.
- What Works for Health Wisconsin: This database provides communities with information to help select and implement evidence-informed policies, programs, and system changes that will improve the variety of factors that affect health. This research is based on a model of population health that emphasizes the many factors that can make communities healthier places to live, learn, work, and play.
The team at UW PHI are reaching out to share these rich resources to further inform and inspire strategy that catalyzes action to ensure all Wisconsin communities thrive.
More about the databases:
Improving Wisconsin’s Health (formerly Assessing and Improving Community Health in Wisconsin)
Local public health and health care systems across Wisconsin conduct priority-setting processes. The University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute has compiled priorities from community health needs assessments (CHNA/CHA) and community health improvement plans (CHIP) from hospitals and health departments to create opportunities for shared learning and alignment of efforts.
Across our state, local health departments and non-profit hospitals are working with each other, and with other community organizations and community members, to assess local health needs and pick priorities for action. We have gathered these local priorities and placed them into a central location to highlight the health issues that are most important to communities across our state. This website is organized to allow people interested in a particular health priority area to identify other communities across the state that are also working on that priority. Awareness of shared health priorities and the strategies and tactics being considered for implementation across the state and in local communities creates opportunities for shared learning and alignment of efforts.
Each community has put a great deal of effort into identifying the full range of its local priorities. Where available, we have provided links to the full health needs assessments for hospitals and local health departments so that users of the site can put the shared priority areas in their wider local context. Below is a list of key health improvement priorities featured on the website with links to learn more about each:
Alcohol use
Diet & exercise
Drug use
Tobacco use
Access to care
Chronic disease
Mental health
Oral Health
Maternal and Child Health
Sexual activity
Quality of care
Community safety
Education
Employment & income
Family & social support
Housing & transit
Racism is a fundamental cause of inequities
Other
What Works for Health Wisconsin
The research underlying What Works for Health is based on a model of population health that emphasizes the many factors that can make communities healthier places to live, learn, work, and play. In What Works for Health, analysts review and assess research to rate the effectiveness of a broad variety of strategies (i.e., policies, programs, systems & environmental changes) that can affect health through changes to:
- health behaviors
- clinical care
- social and economic factors
- the physical environment
Strategies focused on specific diseases or conditions, treatment or other clinical protocol, and federal funding initiatives are generally not included in What Works for Health.
The website and tools also walk through –
- How to use WWFH
- Choosing your Strategy
- About Our Ratings
- About Our Methods
- About Our Sources