CHAs and CHIPs for Accreditation Preparation

The CHA/CHIP Resource Center

Engaging Partners

Getting Started

CHAs

CHIPs

Taking Action

Examples

Accreditation Prep

Additional Factors

A community health assessment (CHA) and a community health improvement plan (CHIP) are two of the three prerequisites required for application to the Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB) voluntary, national accreditation program for public health departments.

This tab contains resources to help your LHD complete a community health improvement process to conduct a CHA and develop a CHIP specifically for accreditation and will help you learn about other general accreditation preparation information. For more tools and resources for completing the community health improvement process for accreditation or otherwise, visit the other CHA/CHIP Resource Center tabs above.

For a list of additional, existing resources around CHAs and CHIPs for accreditation preparation, click here.

For more information about the agency strategic plan, which is the third prerequisite for PHAB application, click here.

Definitions

Community Health Assessment (CHA)

PHAB defines a CHA as "a systematic examination of the health status indicators for a given population that is used to identify key problems and assets in a community. The ultimate goal of a community health assessment is to develop strategies to address the community's health needs and identified issues. A variety of tools and processes may be used to conduct a community health assessment; the essential ingredients are community engagement and collaborative participation.

Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP)

PHAB defines a CHIP as "a long-term, systematic effort to address public health problems on the basis of the results of community health assessment activities and the community health improvement process. This plan is used by health and other governmental education and human service agencies, in collaboration with community partners, to set priorities and coordinate and target resources. A community health improvement plan is critical for developing policies and defining actions to target efforts that promote health. It should define the vision for the health of the community through a collaborative process and should address the gamut of strengths, weaknesses, challenges, and opportunities that exist in the community to improve the health status of that community."

For a description of these definitions and information on application to the accreditation standards, refer to the PHAB Standards and Measures Version 1.0.

»	Accreditation Preparation Webinar Series
	NACCHO's Quality Improvement and Accreditation Preparation Webinar Series provides periodic webinars as part of NACCHO's continued commitment to preparing LHDs for national accreditation. This webinar series is funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More »

»	Accreditation Preparation Toolkit
	This toolkit allows local health departments (LHDs) interested in applying for the Public Health Accreditation Board's (PHAB's) accreditation program to search for and adapt valuable tools and resources to enhance accreditation readiness. This toolkit contains resources for LHDs with varying levels of experience. More »

»	Example Documentation for Accreditation
	NACCHO has collected examples of documents LHDs have selected to submit to PHAB. The examples listed on the linked website are intended to assist LHDs in selecting documentation and to serve as a reference when developing documents to meet accreditation standards and measures. More » Domain 1: Conduct and disseminate assessments focused on population health status Domain 5: Develop public health policies and plans All 12 Domains

»	PHAB Standards and Measures Version 1.0 for CHAs and CHIPs
	The PHAB Standards and Measures Version 1.0 document serves as the official standards, measures and required documentation for PHAB national public health department accreditation. The document provides guidance on the meaning and purpose of a measure and the types of forms of documentation that are appropriate to demonstrate conformity with each measure. The Standards and Measures for the CHA and CHIP have been extracted out of the full Standards and Measures and are accessible below. Click here to access the CHA-related standards and measures from Version 1.0. Click here to access the CHIP-related standards and measures from Version 1.0. Click here to access the full PHAB Standards and Measures Version 1.0.

»	CHAs and CHIPs for Accreditation Preparation Demonstration Project
	NACCHO is funding 12 LHD demonstration sites to engage in a robust community health improvement process that yields two of the three accreditation prerequisites: a CHA and a CHIP. NACCHO is pleased to offer this opportunity with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. More »

Return to the CHA/CHIP Resource Center Main Page