Purpose:
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The aim of a Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP) is to identify strategies to improve the health of a specific community or region. The process begins with a Community Health Assessment, known in the Lower Naugatuck Valley as the Valley Community Index. Data obtained from this assessment is used to identify priority issues, develop and implement strategies for action, and establish accountability to ensure measurable health improvement. Agencies work together to look at community health needs, select those issues of most concern, and establish a plan to address these issues.
Planning and implementation for the current CHIP began in the fall of 2019, and will continue until 2021. Priority areas selected include heart disease, behavioral health, infant death & inadequate prenatal care, and lung conditions (lung cancer and asthma). The PRC is actively involved with the two CHIP working groups listed below.
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Further Study Details:
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Heart Disease Working Group: The goal of reducing premature death rates in the Valley due to heart disease through sustainable initiatives addressing modifiable lifestyle risk factors will be accomplished by: (1) developing a community-wide plan with strategies to address lifestyle risk factors associated with heart disease, focusing on physical activity, nutrition, and smoking; (2) conducting a tailored social marketing campaign to influence health behaviors; (3) identifying and implementing specific programmatic elements over time to support the social marketing campaign; and (4) implementing the strategic plan using established community infrastructure, primarily the Valley Chamber of Commerce and the Valley Council for Health and Human Service Organizations, and engaging key stakeholders.
Maternal-Infant Health Working Group: The goals are to decrease low birth weight and fetal/infant mortality by improving health behaviors; increase adequacy of prenatal care received by pregnant women; and reduce disparities in adequacy of prenatal care, low birth weight, and fetal/infant mortality. Objectives to achieve these goals are: (1) establishing baseline objective data on maternal and infant health outcomes; (2) increasing the accessibility of an enhanced and updated version of the Maternal & Reproductive Health Directory; (3) developing and implementing a social marketing campaign targeting behaviors that influence maternal and infant health; (4) increasing the number of pregnant and postpartum women enrolled the HUSKY Healthy Beginnings program; and (5) increasing the number of primary care and Ob/Gyn providers who incorporate screening for pregnancy intention into routine visits with women of childbearing age.
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