Getting a community health assessment and improvement initiative off the ground--lessons learned

For the past eighteen months, the Michigan Health Care Institute has been administering the Rural Health Project--a W.K. Kellogg Foundation funded project to assist Michigan's rural communities with assessing and improving their health status and health care systems. During that time, MHCI staff have observed community health assessment initiatives all over the country. We have talked to the experts, the veterans, and the consultants; worked closely with the Michigan Department of Public Health to launch a state-wide community health assessment and improvement initiative; and been closely involved with Michigan's rural sites. The following is our best advice to those communities just beginning a health assessment and improvement initiative. It is the first in a two-part series about the process of improving community health.