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.

Assessment and planning includes community health assessment and planning and organizational and strategic assessment and planning. 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 statutorily required to participate in community health assessment and planning.

• Community health assessment and planning handbook for local public health (PDF)
• What are community health boards working on right now?
• Indicators: County-level health
• Toolkit: Community health assessment and planning
• Download tools and templates
• CHA-CHIP Community of Practice
• About local public health assessment and planning
• How does this intersect with LPH Act annual reporting?
• Help and technical assistance

Organizational assessment and strategic planning

Organizational assessment and strategic planning help determine internal priorities and actions.

Community health assessments (CHA) and community health improvement plans (CHIP) are intended to be living documents, fluid and shifting, to align with the needs, opportunities, and changing situations of the community.

Minnesota's community health boards are required by statute to submit a community health assessment and community health improvement plan to the Minnesota Department of Health at least every five years (Minn. Stat. § 145.04, subd. 1a).

Submitting health priorities is a proxy for submitting the community health assessment. All community health boards must submit their community’s health priorities.

MDH will collect health priorities (determined by a community health assessment process) and community health improvement plans on a rolling basis moving forward. Each community health board will submit these every five years, based on the date the community health assessment and plan were approved, enacted, or adopted (as determined by the community health board).

As MDH finalizes its rolling submission process, if you have questions about how to submit your community health board's plans or supporting materials, please contact Melissa Michels at melissa.michels@state.mn.us. 

Staff from the MDH Center for Public Health Practice can help you with assessment and planning. MDH will continue to provide technical assistance, such as training, tools, and one-on-one help in meeting deliverable requirements. MDH will also provide targeted support for monitoring and revising the strategic plan and community health improvement plan.

• CHA/CHIP Community of Practice: Join the MDH CHA-CHIP Community of Practice to build capacity around conducting, developing, and implementing a community health assessment (CHA) and community health improvement plan (CHIP).
• Contact your public health system consultant.
• Contact the MDH Center for Public Health Practice
  651-201-3880
  health.ophp@state.mn.us