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HEALTH MAPPING: IPLAN VS CHM
Are IPLAN and Community Health MAPPING the Same?
No! The Illinois Project for Local Assessment of Needs (IPLAN) and Health MAPPING are similar, but each has unique characteristics. Health MAPPING utilizes data from the IPLAN and combines that information with other sources to create a community profile, depending on how a community is defined. As a neutral participant, the Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs facilitates brainstorming activities without biases or work related agendas. The information gathered by the Health MAPPING process may increase awareness of needs within the community and enhance future IPLAN assessments. The Health MAPPING process and the IPLAN committee members can work collaboratively to better improve community health.
| Health MAPPING | IPLAN |
| …a resource for rural communities to envision a healthier community and create a plan to achieve it through community participation, collaboration of community resources, and continual technical support from the Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs. | …a process designed to assess a community's health needs, to help plan and implement health programs, and to evaluate the local health department's progress for recertification by the state government. |
No! The outcomes of the IPLAN differ from the potential outcomes of the Community Health Mapping process.
| Health MAPPING | IPLAN |
| …based on community health, health care delivery systems and/or environmental health projects that may or may not have a direct health outcome, but may contribute to the community's view of a healthier community. | …based on direct health outcomes that decrease and/or prevent premature death, disease and disability. |
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Health MAPPING may help plan for a community park to encourage leisure time activity and physical activity which may in turn help lower the risk of heart disease or other illnesses among the local population. | The health department offers awareness programs for physical activity to decrease the incidence of heart disease and stroke. |
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| Health MAPPING | IPLAN |
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| IPLAN and Health MAPPING can work together. |
MAPPING the Future of Your Community's Health program provides some of the essential elements for the IPLAN process. The process includes concerned citizens and health care professionals in the planning efforts, provides assessment data for the community, and identifies the high-priority health goals for the community. This may be a springboard for the development of programs for the local health department, but also may involve other community stakeholders. The local health department can benefit from the inclusion of key stakeholders in the development of programs and services.
IIRA staff help citizens and health focused organizations develop an overall community health vision to ensure resources are moving in a common direction. The MAPPING process provides added benefits by bridging the gap between the health sectors and the economic stability of a community, including the impact of the health system on the economic vitality of the community and economic data on the community. The MAPPING group identifies high priority goals for the community, which may be similar to those identified in an interactive IPLAN process. The projects, programs, and goals may not mesh with the health department's scope of work, but other initiatives moving in a similar direction can help achieve the necessary goals through a variety of outlets. Additional support for goals and projects come out of the process empowering citizens to take a more proactive role in their health care needs and to assume more responsibility for their health. Community residents can become more involved in the implementation of the programs and projects after the local town meeting.
Other added benefits to the process include information on building social capital, building a volunteer base, motivating the community, and increasing participation of the community. IIRA staff facilitate connecting the MAPPING group with appropriate resources as high priority goals and projects are identified. From the Health MAPPING process, assessment data and the collaborative action plan can also be utilized by the various agencies to improve the gaps in services, health education programs, and environmental health issues.
