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Key Terms

aggregate
a specific subgroup of a community or population
benchmark
a point of reference or standard against which measurements can be compared
coalition
a group of people and organizations who work to address community needs and solve community problems
community engagement
the process of working collaboratively with and through groups of people to identify the health needs of community residents and strategies to address those needs
community health assessment (CHA)
provides a comprehensive picture of a community’s current health status, factors that contribute to higher health risks or poorer health outcomes, and available community resources to improve health; purpose of CHA and subsequent community health improvement plan is to identify key health needs of a community and to address those needs through strategic intervention
community health improvement plan (CHIP)
a long-term systematic plan to address issues identified in the community health assessment that describes how the health department and the community will work together to improve population health
community partners
all persons, agencies, and organizations who have an investment in the community’s health and in the local public health system
education
the establishment and arrangement of events to facilitate learning and skill development
gap analysis
analysis that is performed to identify and address the disparity between what is desired and real-world conditions
geographic information systems (GIS)
software and technology that can store, visualize, analyze, and interpret spatial data
health indicators
numerical measures of health outcomes, such as morbidity and mortality, that have been analyzed and are used to compare rates or trends of priority community health outcomes and determinants of health
learning
the process of gaining knowledge and skills that lead to behavioral changes
organizational health literacy
the degree to which organizations equitably enable individuals to find, understand, and use information and services to inform health-related decisions and actions for themselves and others
partnership
relationship characterized by mutual cooperation and responsibilities among individuals and groups
personal health literacy
the degree to which individuals have the ability to find, understand, and use information and services to inform health-related decisions and actions for themselves and others
primary data
data collected by the assessor directly from community members; PHAB considers primary data to be data for which collection is conducted, contracted, or overseen by the health department
qualitative data
data expressed in word form that cannot be quantified; describe perspectives of individuals and populations
quantitative data
data expressed by amount in numerical terms
secondary data
data obtained through existing reports on the community that were collected by another entity or for a purpose other than community health assessment
spatial data
data that identify the geographic location of phenomena, provide an overview of the community in map form, and can be used to compare one part of the community to another
vital statistics
population data about births, deaths, marriages, and divorces in the United States
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