A Guidebook for Developing Public Health Communities of Practice

The Institute for Public Health Innovation (IPHI), in partnership with the National Network of Public Health Institutes, created this guidebook to explain how Communities of Practice (CoPs) have emerged as a powerful social learning model for building collaboration, shared expertise, and practical problem-solving across fields, including public health.

CoPs bring together committed practitioners who learn from one another through sustained interaction. The National Network of Public Health Institutes (NNPHI) applies this model to strengthen public health training and practice, offering a guidebook with frameworks and tools to launch CoPs. The rationale is grounded in urgent national calls, including Public Health 3.0 and the CDC’s workforce strategy, which emphasize workforce capacity, continuous learning, and equity. As public health faces an expanding scope, persistent inequities, uneven workforce capacity, rapid-response demands, and the limits of traditional training, CoPs offer a practical, technology-enabled approach to continuous, collaborative learning and the effective sharing and implementation of solutions.

To download the report, click Here

To view the report online, visit: Here

DC Vaccine Alliance

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DC Vaccine Alliance

The DC Vaccine Alliance, funded by DC Health, builds and sustains a coalition of immunization stakeholders dedicated to promoting vaccination across the District.

The Institute for Public Health Innovation (IPHI) leads the DC Vaccine Alliance through a grant from DC Health. The coalition increases immunization rates and reduces vaccine-preventable diseases in Washington, DC. We bring stakeholders from diverse sectors together to educate healthcare providers and the community about vaccine best practices.

DC Vaccine Alliance priorities include:

Understanding attitudes and perceptions around immunizations and awareness of school vaccination requirements

Strengthening partnerships among immunization advocates to align messaging and outreach efforts

Addressing barriers to vaccination and supporting providers in achieving recommended immunization coverage

Enhancing access to accurate and up-to-date vaccine information through digital resources and community engagement

The Alliance serves as a central hub for immunization initiatives, collaborating with key stakeholders to improve vaccine uptake across all populations.

As a member, you engage through our three committees:

Community Outreach – Builds public awareness and drives education efforts

Advocacy – Strengthens policies that support vaccination efforts

Provider Education – Enhances vaccination services and fosters provider collaboration

If you’re interested in learning more or participating, contact us below or follow us social media:

Resources

To learn more about the DC Vaccine Alliance and how you can contribute to this important initiative, please contact us at [email protected].

Nourishing Success through School Meals Report

The Institute for Public Health Innovation (IPHI) and partners created this report to improve student health and academic outcomes by identifying and addressing barriers to school meal access in Prince George’s County, Maryland.

The Institute for Public Health Innovation (IPHI) and the Prince George’s County Food Equity Council (FEC) are currently engaging with students, parents, and school leadership to learn about the perceptions and barriers influencing participation in school nutrition. The team would like to partner with the Prince George’s County Public Schools (PGCPS) Food and Nutrition Services to develop and implement strategies to increase school meal participation across the county. The FEC will also leverage other key food and community health partners to expand and execute the identified strategies. The intended impact includes improvements to both student health and academic outcomes, promotion of school wellness, and environmental sustainability. This initiative is funded by Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry campaign.

To download the report, click: here

To view the executive summary of the report and recommendations, click: here

Food Security Report

Title "Prince George's County Food Security Task Force Recommendations 2021" over a background image of crops growing from the ground.

Food Security Report

IPHI, Prince George’s County Food Security Task Force, and Prince George’s County Food Equity Council (FEC) completed a report to address the county’s food-security challenges exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The report recommends 11 solutions (four foundational and seven general strategies) for the Prince George’s County Council, Office of the County Executive, and County agencies to adopt.

To download the report, click: here.

To view the executive summary of the report and recommendations, click: here.

Foundational Recommendations

Create and fund a Prince George’s County Food Security Office.
Gather, analyze, and use data to inform and drive County agency food security decisions.
Increase resident participation in federal nutrition assistance programs.
Develop a master communication strategy for food security, resilience, and emergency preparedness.

Food Security Policies and Programs Recommendations

Plan for future food security disruptions by developing an emergency food security plan that integrates food system experts into existing emergency management operations.
Increase access to bulk food purchasing, infrastructure, and resources for food assistance providers.
Co-locate food security and social safety net services to create closed-loop referral systems.
Improve transportation options for residents to access healthy food retailers and providers.
Leverage state and regional partners for cross-jurisdictional food systems planning, coordinated communication, and infrastructure development.
Provide land access, infrastructure, and resources to help agriculture flourish.
Continue to provide and expand market incentives to support healthy food retailers of multiple sizes in target communities.

Dan River Region Health Equity Report

Photo by: The Gender Spectrum Collection. View the guidelines: here.

Dan River Region Health Equity Report

IPHI has partnered with The Health Collaborative, Centra, Sovah Health – Danville, and Danville Regional Foundation to publish the Dan River Region’s first Health Equity Report.

This is a sunset initiative (no longer active).

In 2017, these community partners collaborated to collect data, engage residents, identify common themes, and analyze trends to better understand the region’s health status.

As part of a larger community health needs assessment, the map-based report provides critical insight into the many factors influencing the community’s health. The report’s findings have been presented in the region through a series of workshops, presentations, and community findings.

To download the Dan River Region full Health Equity Report, click: here.

RVA Breathes

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RVA BREATHES

IPHI partnered with the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Department of Psychology to implement of RVA Breathes. This program was a six-year NIH-funded research grant to assess the impact of evidence-based interventions on families with a child with uncontrolled asthma in Richmond, Virginia.

This is a sunset initiative (no longer active).

Richmond, VA, is consistently ranked one of the most challenging places to live in the United States for those diagnosed with asthma.

This study sought to identify interventions to help Richmond-based families manage their child’s asthma. Working in partnership with a team of Healthy Homes Assessors from the Richmond and Henrico Health Districts (RHHD), IPHI community health workers (CHW) conducted home visits with families with a child with uncontrolled asthma. The team provided education on asthma self-management, establishing a medical home, identifying environmental triggers, and techniques to reduce asthma attacks. The team helped families identify and navigate resources to address health-related social needs.

The final post-intervention visits and data analysis remain ongoing, but current outcomes of interest include reduced emergency department utilization, unnecessary hospitalization, and increased school attendance and medication usage. Preliminary results showed:

Caregivers gained the confidence to manage asthma attacks and talk to their children’s doctors and school personnel.
Children became comfortable with talking about asthma with their parents and doctors.
Caregivers reported developing new strategies to improve medication adherence.
Caregivers frequently discussed the invaluable psychosocial support the CHW and Healthy Homes teams provided. Having someone to discuss challenges and fears helped to manage stress. Children felt supported in addressing challenges.

After this project, the VCU and RHHD teams worked together to develop a community-based asthma program model. With more flexibility and adaptability, the community-based program model is well-suited to meet parents where they are. Recognizing the pilot’s success, research project results, and the importance of sustaining this resource, RHHD has agreed to continue this intervention starting June 2022.

To learn more about RVA Breathes, please contact Senior Program Manager Rebecca Epstein at [email protected].

Contact

Prince George’s Fresh

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Prince George’s Fresh

Prince George’s Fresh is a pilot fruit and vegetable coupon benefit program designed to increase access to healthy food in Prince George’s County, Maryland.

Through a collaborative partnership between IPHI, Giant Food, Amerigroup, Anthem Foundation, and the Healthy Eating Active Living (HEAL) Workgroup of the Prince George’s Healthcare Action Coalition, Prince George’s Fresh will increase healthy food access for Prince George’s County residents. The program allows medical professionals at participating health clinics to recommend produce coupons and nutrition education to patients experiencing food insecurity. Prince George’s Fresh is an innovative opportunity to engage cross-sectoral partners in an evidence-based model to address County health disparities and food insecurity. For Prince George’s Fresh fact sheet, click: here.

In fall 2023, Prince George’s Fresh completed an evaluation report on “A Pilot of a Food as Medicine.” To view and download the report, click: here.

To learn more about Prince George’s Fresh, please contact [email protected].

Contact

Cameron Foundation Community Health Needs Assessment

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Community Health Needs Assessment

The Cameron Foundation in Petersburg, VA, partnered with IPHI to update its community health needs assessment (CHNA). The most recent assessment was developed in spring 2023.

Cameron Foundation’s Community Health Needs Assessment – 2023

The assessment provides a comprehensive review of demographic, socioeconomic, physical environmental, and health indicators, and includes jurisdiction-level forces of change analyses and a summary of existing services and resources in the foundation’s service areas. IPHI led the collection, analysis, and reporting of health indicators, which include clinical and behavioral risk factors, County Health Rankings from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, health outcomes, and life expectancy maps.

IPHI worked with the foundation to frame the report using a health equity lens to link demographics, environmental and socioeconomic factors (e.g., social determinants of health-SDOH) to overall health outcomes and inequities between populations, neighborhoods, and jurisdictions. Among other data in the report, IPHI integrated the Vulnerable Populations Footprint from the Community Commons and census tract life expectancy maps to visually demonstrate the link between adverse SDOH and short life span at the neighborhood level. IPHI added evidence-based recommendations to guide communities in using the assessment.

To learn more about the Cameron Foundation’s community health needs assessment, please contact [email protected] or visit: www.camfound.org/.

Contact

Website

Community Health Improvement Planning

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Community Health Improvement Planning

The community health improvement plan (CHIP) is a collaborative process to identify trends, needs, and resources in a community or jurisdiction and develop action plans for community health improvement.

Our framework for community health improvement work defines health broadly and recognizes that health and well-being are affected by the conditions and circumstances in which people live, age, work, learn, and play.

Our commitment to the belief that all people and communities have the right to achieve and maintain good health fuels the passion we bring to the work.

Our approach to the community health improvement process includes these key components:

Coalition-building among public and private community partners;
Grassroots community engagement;
Data collection and analysis to identify community health needs, inequities, strengths, and assets; and
Development, implementation, and evaluation of action plans that include common goals, a shared system of measuring outcomes, and proven interventions.

We are uniquely positioned to assist with this important assessment and planning work. We have the organizational capacity and staff skills, and experience to contribute by:

Serving as a neutral convener to engage community partners and residents;
Collecting, analyzing, and presenting community health data in an understandable and meaningful way;
Facilitating health issue prioritization and action planning; and
Providing technical assistance for action plan implementation and evaluation.

To view and download the CHIP overview, click: here.

To learn more about community health improvement planning, please contact [email protected].

Contact

ImmunizeVA

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IMMUNIZEVA

Immunize Virginia is a statewide coalition of immunization stakeholders representing medical, public health, nonprofit professionals, parents, and community leaders in Virginia.

Our diverse membership is united in its commitment to the coalition’s vision of a future where the quality and length of life of Virginians are not impacted by a disease that could have been prevented by immunizations.

Together, members work to improve immunization coverage across the Commonwealth in four key areas:

Advocacy
Education
Professional Education
Quality Management

Since it was established in 2020, the coalition has supported the implementation of vaccine clinics in historically under-vaccinated communities, launched social media campaigns to spread awareness about pressing vaccine issues, supported education initiatives surrounding immunization legislation, facilitated numerous presentations for medical and public health professionals on immunizations, and collected timely data on pressing vaccine issues. IPHI serves as the backbone support for ImmunizeVA.

To learn more about ImmunizeVA, please contact [email protected] or visit: immunizevirginia.org.

ImmunizeVA Newsletter

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