Project Description Narrative:
If community health assessment processes do not accurately reflect the communities most affected by inequities, the resulting strategies to address identified health priorities will likely not meet the needs of the full population and the necessary community health impact will not be fully achieved. Recognizing this, the Health Equity Alliance of Rock County (HEAR) knew that they needed to embrace diverse community engagement processes to incorporate essential community voices alongside traditional public health data. This project aimed to develop a storytelling report through the HEAR Community Engagement Project to ensure that community voices are reflected in future health needs assessments, priority setting processes, and programming to address the health needs of all Rock County residents and to develop a toolkit to support ongoing community engagement in Rock County and other Wisconsin communities.
Project partners: Health Equity Alliance of Rock County (HEAR): Beloit Area Community Health, Beloit Health Systems, Building a Safer Evansville, Community Action-First Choice, Community Health Systems, Inc., Community Care Connections of Wisconsin, Edgerton Hospital, HealthNet of Rock County, Healthy Edgerton, Head Start, Janesville Mobilizing 4 Change, Mercy Health System, Rock County Public Health Department, Rock County Human Services, School District of Beloit, SSM Health-St. Mary's Janesville, South Central Area Health Education Center (AHEC), UW-Extension, Youth2Youth 4 Change