Summer 2017 SAVI Online Magazine Emagazine Summer 2017 mn and ae edits - web | Page 5
Parkview Regional Medical Center
it gathered more detailed data about
them by conducting phone surveys and
organizing focus groups with people who
live in the communities.
By analyzing hard data and
incorporating community input, the team
identified 13 major health issues in the
region, including cancer, diabetes, the
cost of healthcare, mental health, and
sexually transmitted diseases. Next, it
applied a method for ranking them that
took into account the size of the problem,
the seriousness of the problem, and the
effectiveness of potential interventions.
Last summer, the IN-PHC team
presented its findings to executives from
each of the Parkview Health hospitals,
who then voted on which health issues
to prioritize. Obesity was easily their
first choice, followed by mental health,
maternal and child health, drug abuse,
and diabetes. Each hospital in the
Parkview Health system also selected its
own top priorities.
“More than just a report”
The challenges identified by the CHNA
are well known to health experts, but the
process of creating a formal assessment
is useful, according to Ehinger, because
it “helps us to focus and funnel all our
activities into what the community
believes is most needed.”
The process is also valuable because
it helps keep the issues in the public eye.
“It’s very easy for us, as humans, to
keep our heads in the sand,” says Sarah
Wiehe, director of the Community Health
Engagement Program at the Indiana
Clinical and Translational Sciences
Institute. “These are very challenging
problems to address. A lot of them
are interrelated, and they don’t have a
silver bullet answer. Having a place to
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