Page in progress
Community health assessments for health departments
Public Health Accreditation Board standards expect a health department to lead or take part in a collaborative, comprehensive community health assessment, followed by a community health improvement plan. Collaborative is the hard word. It means the community was actually heard.
What PHAB’s Standards and Measures expect (Version 2022)
- Standard 1.1: “Participate in or lead a collaborative process resulting in a comprehensive community health assessment” (PHAB Version 2022).
- A community health improvement plan built with community input on the priorities the assessment identified.
- Both documents current at the time of accreditation and again at reaccreditation.
- PHAB accreditation is voluntary. Many departments carry out the same assessment and plan under state requirements, accredited or not.
Facts on this page were checked against the official sources on September 20, 2026. Rules change; rely on the official announcement or regulation linked here, not on this summary.
Where we fit
We supply the evidence that the process was collaborative, and the analysis that turns it into priorities.
- Focus groups and interviews with the people the rule says you must hear from
- Surveys of all kinds: community, client, staff and partner
- Quantitative analysis of the public and internal data the assessment has to cite
- Data management, so every figure in the report can be traced to its source
- Expert data visualization, and a written report your board can adopt
- Final reporting in multiple formats: full report, executive summary, slide deck, one-page brief or dashboard
Mixed methods is our default design: qualitative and quantitative data, collected together and reported as one story.
Timing
Departments usually begin twelve to eighteen months before an accreditation or reaccreditation submission. If a local hospital’s CHNA is due in the same window, one shared assessment can serve both. See hospital CHNAs.
Planning an assessment or an improvement plan?
Tell us the jurisdiction and your accreditation timeline. You will hear back within one business day.
Every inquiry is confidential. We never sell or share your information. Privacy policy.