Community Health Planning

Community Health Assessment

A Community Health Assessment is conducted to provide an understanding of the state of health in a community and the social factors contributing to and influencing health in the area. The assessment will be used as a guide for development of community health improvement strategies. The periodic updating of assessments reflects changes in health status and factors over time and helps ensure ongoing improvement efforts are based on the current needs of the community. Metro Public Health facilitated the 2021 Community Health Assessment process for Nashville-Davidson County.

For 2021, Metro Public Health Department, Ascension Saint Thomas Health, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville General Hospital at Meharry, HCA Healthcare Foundation, Metro Social Services, and the Healthy Nashville Leadership Council forged a collaborative relationship to partner with community residents and stakeholders to understand the current health needs of Nashville-Davidson County, Tennessee. This updated assessment of unmet health needs will provide a basis for addressing the health of the county, and act as a reference for each of the partnering organizations’ community health improvement plan/implementation strategy to ensure alignment with the community needs.

Community Health Improvement Plan

A Community Health Improvement Plan is an action-oriented plan outlining the priority community health issues based on the Mobilizing for Action through Planning and Partnerships community health assessment. The Healthy Nashville Community Health Improvement Plan outlines how these issues will be addressed, including strategies and measures to ultimately improve the health of Nashville by achieving our vision: A Healthy Nashville has a culture of compassion and well-being where all people belong, thrive, and prosper.

Thousands of Nashvillians participated in the visioning, assessment and strategy development processes that resulted in this Community Health Improvement Plan. The Mobilizing for Action through Planning and Partnerships process utilized the mayoral appointed Healthy Nashville Leadership Council as the Steering Committee, and Metro Public Health Department, Ascension Saint Thomas Health, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville General Hospital at Meharry, HCA Healthcare Foundation, Metro Social Services joined together to form a Core Team which was responsible for convening and guiding the process. The 2021 Nashville Community Health Assessment Report details the assessment process, and its results, and can be found this page.

Community Priorities

The 2023-2025 Nashville Community Health Improvement Plan presents five key systems issues for the community to address during the next three years. These issues were elicited from a rigorous community health assessment process using a derivation of the Mobilizing for Action through Planning and Partnerships framework for community health improvement. The Mobilizing for Action through Planning and Partnerships assessments served as the foundation for informing the development of the priority community health issues for Nashville to address during the next three years.

Housing/Transportation

When adequate housing protects individuals and families from harmful exposures and provides them with a sense of privacy, security, stability, and control, it can make important contributions to health. This strategic need was identified to address the accessibility, availability, affordability, and adequacy of housing and transportation systems in Nashville-Davidson County. Emphasis is on displacement due to gentrification in Nashville and transportation infrastructure that connects residents to jobs and grocery stores.

Whole Health

Whole health describes the interconnectivity of physical, mental, cognitive, behavioral, spiritual, and financial health by promoting, supporting, and advocating for availability, adequacy, accessibility, and affordability of information and services. The need to meet the basic health needs of populations in Davidson County was one of the largest issues revealed through all processes of the assessment. Failing to meet basic health needs, increases the risk of development of chronic diseases and worse health outcomes. Primary and secondary data analysis largely stressed the importance and need to address the lack of access to whole health across Davidson County.

Economic Opportunity and Job Skill Development

Social and economic factors, such as income, education, employment, community safety, and social supports can significantly affect how well and how long we live. These factors affect our ability to make healthy choices, afford medical care and housing, manage stress, and more. This process showed the need for support for living wage jobs that provide sufficient income to support a high quality of life. Additionally, support for education and skill development for the workforce has surfaced. This need was highlighted by data showing wage growth has not kept up with the cost of living in Nashville and disparities among median household income, especially for people of color.

Food Access/Food Insecurity

The environments where we live, learn, work, and play affect our access to healthy food. A lack of access to healthy foods is often a significant barrier to healthy eating habits. Low-income and underserved areas often have limited numbers of stores that sell healthy foods. People living farther away from grocery stores are less likely to access healthy food options on a regular basis and thus more likely to consume foods which are readily available at convenience stores and fast-food outlets.

Awareness and Navigation of Community Resources

This need continued to be prioritized following its appearance in the 2019 Community Health Assessment. Prioritizing coordination of resources between many different service providers was a necessity to many community members throughout the need’s prioritization process. “Awareness and Navigation of Resources” encapsulated many different types of services and resources throughout the community, not just health or clinically related and acknowledging that these resources are confusing to find, navigate, and coordinate. Some examples of the types of services that should be coordinated include but are not limited to social services, clinic services, housing assistance, and mental health services.

Equity

The need for an equitable approach to addressing prioritized health needs emerged as an issue throughout both quantitative and qualitative assessments. This strategic lens will be used in the development and the implementation of the community health improvement plan. The success of the prioritized health needs will require a health equity lens that places strategic focus on vulnerable populations and deep understanding of the complexity of some health disparities. In doing so, health leaders and community members will need to commit to individual, organizational and community capacity-building activities and actions that will lead to more equitable outcomes.

Implementation Actions

Several community partners have already identified actions to take during the next several years to address the Community Health Improvement Plan goals. Partnership development will be an on-going process throughout the implementation of the Community Health Improvement Plan. If you are interested in getting involved in the implementation of the Community Health Improvement Plan, please send an e-mail to [email protected].

In addition to the goals and objectives included in the Community Health Improvement Plan, the Healthy Nashville Leadership Council and Metro Public Health Department will continue to seek opportunities to partner, convene and participate in initiatives that support the five priority issues for the community.

Community Health Status Reports

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