Illinois Project for Local Assessment of Need (IPLAN)
IPLAN is a community health needs assessment and planning process that each local health department in the State of Illinois is mandated to conduct every five years.
Contact Us
Phone: 815-748-2468
Email: Healthiertogether@dekalbcounty.org
The DeKalb County Community Health Improvement Plan is the result of the participation and input of many community individuals, agencies, and organizations. It is intended to assist community participants in better addressing those priority health needs through the application of developed strategic planning initiatives and appropriate programming.
The top three health priorities identified in DeKalb County for 2017-2022 are as follows:
- Adolescent Health
- Behavioral Health
- Maternal Child Health
Planning Process
In 2017, the Together — for a Healthier DeKalb County committee convened with a goal of creating a shared understanding of community needs, gaps and priorities in hopes to advance the well-being of the DeKalb County community. To achieve this, Together for a Healthier DeKalb County engaged community stakeholders in a coordinated approach to ongoing community needs assessment, resulting in data-driven solutions to address county priorities, align resources, and improve population level outcomes.
We used the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) process, Mobilizing for Action through Planning and Partnerships (MAPP), to guide Together – For a Healthier DeKalb County. This four part-assessment provided a comprehensive picture of health and well-being in DeKalb County.
Four MAPP Assessments
The Community Themes and Strengths Assessment provided a deep understanding of the issues that residents feel are important by answering the questions: What is important to our community?”, “How is quality of life perceived in our community?” and “What assets do we have that can be used to improve community health?”
The Local Public Health System Assessment answered the questions, “What are the components, activities, competencies, and capacities of our local public health system?” and “How are the Essential Services being provided to our community?”
The Community Health Status Assessment answered the questions, “How healthy are our residents?” and “What does the health status of our community look like?” The results of the CHSA provided the MAPP Committee with an understanding of the community’s health status and ensured that the community’s priorities included specific health status issues (e.g., high lung cancer rates or low immunization rates).
The Forces of Change Assessment is designed to help MAPP participants answer the following questions: “What is occurring or might occur that affects the health of our community or the local public health system?” and “What specific threats or opportunities are generated by these occurrences?”