CHNA Framework

UChicago’s Campus Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) will use the Mobilizing for Action through Planning and Partnerships (MAPP)1 framework to conduct the assessment. MAPP is a community-wide strategic planning process for improving public health that will be tailored to our campus community. MAPP was developed by the National Association of County & City Health Officials (NACCHO) to respond to the needs of communities to improve public health practice. What makes MAPP unique is that it is a community-owned process that involves broad representation of the entire campus community and uses qualitative and quantitative data from four assessments to inform the development, implementation, and evaluation of strategic campus health improvement plans.

Please see below the six phases of the CHNA framework that will be conducted on our campus. For an update on where we are in the process, click here.

Phase 1: Organize for Success/Partnership Development

Campus-side strategic planning requires strong organization and a high level of commitment from partners, stakeholders and students who are recruited to participate. During this phase of the process, partners are identified to oversee the process and conduct each of the four assessments. 

UChicago Student Wellness will lead the campus health needs assessment in collaboration with the campus partners listed. Students from the Student Health Advisory Board (SHAB) and Wellness Advisory Board (WAB) will assist with identifying ways to engage diverse groups of students to gather feedback around the health and wellness of UChicago’s campus.

Phase 2: Visioning

A shared vision and common values provide a framework for pursuing long-range campus goals. The visioning phase answers the questions:

  1. Where do we, as a campus community, see ourselves in five years?
  2. What values will support us through the CHNA process?

The following vision and values were created by the CHNA Steering Committee in 2018. This vision may be revised during this cycle.

Vision

To achieve a thriving, healthy campus community that values the health and well-being of our students and supports them in their pursuit of academic excellence and lifelong positive impact.

Values

  • Innovation: pioneer a new process to identify the needs of UChicago students and work collaboratively to address those needs
  • Inclusion: respect and value diverse life experiences and support a climate that celebrates each student’s success
  • Collaboration: work together to support the well-being of our campus community and identify assets and opportunities for growth around student success
  • Integrity: hold ourselves to the highest standards to support the well-being of the campus community
  • Accountability: commit to the success and well-being of our campus community by involving campus-wide support

 

 

Phase 3: Four Assessments

Through this process, four separate assessments are used to provide a comprehensive picture of health and wellness and what is happening related to them on our campus community. The four assessments are:

Campus Health Status Assessment: provides quantitative information on campus health and wellness conditions. This assessment identifies priority campus health and quality of life issues. It answers the questions:

  1. How healthy are our students?
  2. What does the health status of our campus look like?

Campus Themes and Strengths Assessment: identifies assets/ resources in the campus community and issues that are important to students. This assessment provides a deep understanding of the issues students feel are important. It answers the questions:

  1. What is important to our campus community?
  2. How is quality of life perceived on our campus?
  3. What assets do we have that can be used to improve campus health and wellness?

Forces of Change Assessment: identifies forces that may affect the campus community and opportunities and threats associated with those forces. This assessment focuses on the identification of forces such as legislation, technology and other impending changes that affect the context in which the campus operates. It answers the questions:

  1. What is occurring or might occur that affects the health of our campus and students?
  2. What specific threats and opportunities are generated by these occurrences?

Local Campus Health System Assessment: measures how well different campus partners work together to provide health and wellness services. This assessment gathers all entities that contribute to the campus’ wellbeing to answer the following questions:

 

  1.  What are the resources of our university system?,
  2. How are different departments connected?
  3. What are the duplicative activities on campus that contribute to health and wellness?
  4. What are the gaps in campus health and wellness services?
Phase 4: Identify Strategic Issues

During this phase, data from the four CHNA assessments are reviewed and synthesized. The group then identifies linkages between the four assessments to determine the most critical issues that must be addressed for our campus to achieve its vision. This phase answers the following questions:

  1. What issues are critical to the success of the local campus health system?
  2. What critical challenges must be addressed in order for the campus community to achieve its vision?
Phase 5: Formulate Goals and Strategies

During this phase, campus partners form goal statements related to each strategic issue (identified in Phase 4) and identify strategies for achieving each goal. This assessment answers the following questions:

 

  1. What are the long-term results associated with the identified strategic issues? 
  2. What strategies can the campus community take to reach the goals?
Phase 6: Action Cycle

The action cycle involves three activities: planning, implementation and evaluation. The action cycle looks similar to continuous improvement cycles in that information about how well we are achieving our goals should inform improvements in planning and implementation. These activities build upon one another in a continuous and interactive manner to ensure the continued success of the CHNA activities.

In this phase, the following questions will be answered:

  1. What will be done to realize the campus community’s vision?
  2. Who will do it?
  3. How will it be done?
  4. How will we know we have made improvements?
  5. How can we continually improve?