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Valencia Community Partnership
County Health Improvement Plan
June, 2007
The Valencia County Health Improvement Plan was developed by the Valencia Community Partnership (VCP), the comprehensive health planning council for the county. The Plan is a working document that identifies the priorities of the VCP based on county health data delineated in the County Health Profile along with feedback from various county communities on their priorities and concerns. Identification of risk and protective factors are included for each priority. Specific strategies to improve community health in each priority area are documented in the Plan and are meant to guide the health council in its efforts towards collaborative and strategic health planning.
There are four identified health priorities: The first identified priority is substance abuse, with the initial efforts outlined in the Plan aimed at reducing adolescent alcohol use in Valencia County. The second identified priority is teen pregnancy, with a draft aim of reducing the teen pregnancy rate in Valencia County and improving prenatal care among already pregnant teens. The third identified priority is access to care, with a draft aim of increasing the access to health care and health improvement services for all Valencia County residents. The fourth identified health priority is violence, with a draft aim to be determined. These priority areas will have associated VCP task forces which will be trained, with assistance from the New Mexico Department of Health, in applying a systematic approach to identifying core issues underlying the health priorities, as well as developing specific, evidenced-based strategies designed to positively impact those core issues.
The VCP identified other council priorities that will receive similarly focused analysis and attention as the capacity of the health council increases. These priorities are issues specific to the elderly, homelessness, and commitment to education. The Leadership Team recognizes that there are overarching issues that affect each of the above concerns including poverty, cultural disparities, transportation and inconsistent funding.
The Valencia County Health Improvement Plan will be reviewed and updated by the Partnership quarterly as more current health data becomes available, and council priorities evolve as a result of the changes in health status. Successes and challenges of the council and its undertakings will be shared with the Valencia county community in an effort to raise awareness of health issues, increase opportunities to participate in improving community health, and encourage involvement in establishing council priorities.
Funding for the coordination and development of the VCP is provided by the New Mexico Department of Health with Youth Development, Inc. (YDI) as fiscal agent. The Partnership also has a small discretionary fund that rolled over when it was reorganized from the Valencia County Coalition for Families, Children and Community (VCC FCC) whose 501c3 status was retained by the VCP.
DEVELOPMENT AND PURPOSE OF THE COUNTY HEALTH IMPROVEMENT PLAN
The Valencia County Health Improvement Plan was developed by the VCP Leadership and the council coordinator with input from the council membership and county community for the purpose of identifying community health priorities and aligning programs and services to systematically impact these priorities. It is intended to be used by community agencies, organizations, schools and governments to assist with obtaining funding and to identify avenues for partnering and collaboration.
The Leadership Team has determined that the following activities are necessary for the development of the VCP as a comprehensive, community-responsive health council:
In determining which of the complex health concerns to focus on in order to have the greatest impact on health improvement, the VCP has taken into account which concerns the community has the capacity to impact in a systematic and measurable way at this time. With this in mind it has elected to focus on substance abuse, teen pregnancy, access to care, and violence using a systems approach. Following is an assessment of the resources, gaps, barriers, and strategies for each of the community-identified priority areas.
Substance abuse is the first priority area for the Valencia Community Partnership. Data from the County Health Profile impacting this decision are:
Related risk and protective factors as identified in the County Profile are:
| Protective Factors | Risk Factors |
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Based on the above information, the VCP developed the following aims, outcome measures, strategies and activities:
Aim: Reduce underage drinking in Valencia County
Outcome Measure: The percentage of youth who have had at least one drink in the past 30 days as self-reported in the Youth Risk and Resiliency Survey
Strategy 1: Convene a comprehensive Substance Abuse Prevention Task Force. (Indicator: Task force membership roster, meeting agendas and minutes)
Activity 1: Identify members of Substance Abuse Prevention Task Force.
Activity 2: Educate the Task Force members about the systems approach to health improvement.
Activity 3: Use systems tools to understand and measure the current process of the substance abuse system in Valencia County.
Activity 4: Develop strategies using systems tools to reduce youth alcohol use.
Strategy 2: Change social norms regarding youth alcohol use in Valencia County (Indicator: Number of posters, PSAs and other media messages)
Activity 1: Determine community norms and attitudes around underage drinking
Activity 2: Educate school officials and community policy makers about social norms marketing.
Activity 3: Support the development and implementation of a youth-oriented social norms marketing campaign in Valencia County schools and communities.
Strategy 3: Advocate for evidenced-based prevention programs in schools and community agencies. (Indicator: Number of programs being implemented)
Activity 1: Educate school officials and community policy makers about the benefits of prevention vs. intervention
Activity 2: Identify existing programs.
Activity 3: Identify funding opportunities and assist schools and community-based agencies with obtaining funding for prevention programs.
Strategy 4: Implement alcohol-free activities and events. (Indicator: Number of events being implemented)
Activity1: Coordinate with schools and community-based agencies to host alcohol-free youth and family events and activities.
Strategy 5: Advocate for the development of policies and practices that discourage underage drinking. (Indicator: Signage and product placement, documented policies)
Activity 1: Determine existing policies that impact underage drinking
Activity 2: Educate families and community members about the harmful effects of underage drinking and the consequences of providing alcohol to minors.
Activity3: Educate merchants about the consequences of selling to minors and about practices that increase access to minors such as product place-ment and signage.
Teen pregnancy is the second priority area for the VCP. Data from the County Health Profile impacting this decision are:
Related risk and protective factors as identified in the County Profile are:
| Protective Factors | Risk Factors |
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Based on the above information, the VCP developed the following aims, outcome measures, strategies and activities:
Aim: Reduce birth rates for 19 year olds and younger in Valencia County
Outcome Measure: Valencia County teen birth rates as recorded in the Office of New Mexico Records and Vital statistics
Strategy 1: Convene a comprehensive Teen Pregnancy Task Force. (Indicator: Task force membership roster, meeting agendas and minutes)
Activity 1: Identify members of Teen Pregnancy Task Force.
Activity 2: Educate the Task Force members about the systems approach to health improvement.
Activity 3: Use systems tools to understand and measure the current process of the system that results in high teen pregnancy rate in Valencia County.
Activity 4: Develop strategies using systems tools to reduce the teen pregnancy rate and to improve prenatal care of already pregnant teens.
Strategy 2: Change community norms that result in high teen pregnancy rate (Indicator: Number of posters, PSAs, and other media messages)
Activity 1: Determine community norms and attitudes around teen pregnancy
Activity 2: Educate school officials and community policy makers about social norms marketing.
Activity 3: Support the development and implementation of a youth-oriented social norms marketing campaign in Valencia County schools and communities.
Strategy 3: Encourage increase in male responsibility regarding sexual activity. (Indicator: Condom use as reported in YRRS)
Activity 1: Research male involvement programs and projects
Activity 2: Support the development of a male involvement project in Valencia County.
Strategy 4: Advocate for evidence-based comprehensive sexuality education in Valencia County schools and community-based programs. (Indicator: Number of programs being implemented)
Activity 1: Educate school officials and community policy makers about the benefits of comprehensive sexuality education in preventing teen pregnancy.
Activity 2: Identify existing programs.
Activity 3: Identify funding opportunities and assist schools and community-based agencies with obtaining funding for evidence-based curricula.
Activity 4: Provide avenues for gathering input from parents and educating them about the risks and hazards of teen pregnancy.
Access to health care is the third identified priority area for the Valencia Community Partnership. Data from the County Health Profile impacting this decision are:
Related risk and protective factors as identified in the County Profile are:
| Protective Factors | Risk Factors |
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Based on the above information, the VCP developed the following aims, outcome measures, strategies and activities:
Aim: Improve access to health care services in Valencia County
Outcome Measure: Decreased wait times for appointments, increased number of providers in the county
Strategy 1: Convene an Access to Care Task Force. (Indicator: Task force membership roster, meeting agendas and minutes)
Activity 1: Identify members of Access to Care Task Force.
Activity 2: Educate the Task Force members about the systems approach to health improvement.
Activity 3: Use systems tools to understand and measure the access to care system in Valencia County.
Activity 4: Develop strategies using systems tools to identify strategies to improve access to care.
Strategy 2: Develop policies and practices that facilitate access to care
Activity 1: Research transportation issues that impact access to care.
Activity 2: Determine underserved areas.
Activity 3: Determine policies and practices that impact provider recruitment and retention.
Activity 4: Advocate for Hospital/Health Commons facility
Activity 5: Determine coverage/reimbursement process and rates in the county.
The fourth identified priority for the VCP is violence. Some data from the County Health Profile that support this decision are:
Aim: To be determined (identify scope of violence in community)
Outcome Measure: To be determined
Strategies: To be determined
Activities: To be determined
As a working document, the Valencia County Health Improvement Plan will be expanded to include other issues affecting community health. The Partnership has identified other areas that could potentially be included as council priorities. Based on data collected for the Profile in these areas, the following may be included in future updates:
Community Health Improvement Process Sustainability
The Valencia community Partnership will engage in ongoing evaluation of council strategies aimed at improving health status in Valencia County. This evaluation will be guided by the VCP Leadership Team with additional support from the New Mexico Department of Health, Office of Health Promotion and Community Health Improvement. Evaluation will include monitoring and oversight of process measures related to council activities and task forces, such as quarterly updates on task force activities as well as county level data collection and review to document health status improvement over time.
Documentation of working and task force activities will be provided to the VCP Coordinator and the Leadership Team who will be responsible for providing this documentation to the funders and others in the community or council upon request. Verbal reports on activities along with supporting documentation or health improvement tools will be presented at Partnership meeting. Additional information may be shared at the Leadership Team meetings at the request of either Leadership Team members or members of the task forces or working groups. Those in the community working on issues related to priority areas but not members of the council will be invited to present their work at Partnership or Leadership meetings to assure services are not duplicated.
The Partnership will be responsible for annual update of health information in the County Profile taking care to assure that newly identified health concerns within the community are included and updated as well. Priorities will be reviewed for relevancy by Partnership members at a planning meeting on an annual basis with modification of priorities, task forces and strategies as needed to best impact health status in Valencia County. Further information relevant to county health issues may be gathered through surveys and focus groups with results documented in the County Health Profile and Community Health Improvement Plan.
A systematic approach to community health improvement will be implemented by trained Partnership members in subsequently developed task forces or working groups with an aim of increasing community capacity for systematic strategic health planning.