In January 2024, the Virginia Department of Health’s Blue Ridge Health District, Sentara Martha Jefferson Hospital and the University of Virginia Health System embarked on their fifth collaborative community health assessment: MAPP2Health. This assessment, conducted every three years, aims to identify priorities for advancing health equity districtwide; address pressing health issues through collective action; and ultimately develop a community health improvement plan, or CHIP.
The Blue Ridge Health District launched the district’s first community health assessment, or CHA, in 2009 using the Mobilizing for Action through Planning and Partnerships, or MAPP, framework, hence the local name MAPP2Health. The process includes the analysis of both health data and outcomes as well as community feedback and input. The MAPP2Health process has evolved over the years and included hundreds of community members and organizations as well as dozens of coalitions.
This iteration marks the debut of MAPP2Health 2.0, a framework that leverages data-driven …