Date of Publication
6-1-2022
Abstract
Background: The Affordable Care Act requires hospitals to develop Community Health Needs Assessments (CHNAs) every 3 years, identifying community-specific health goals and implementation strategies. However, it is unclear how CNHAs are translated into healthcare policy. College of Medicine students analyzed how Vermont state legislative health leaders prioritized community health needs and their alignment with hospital CHNAs.
Methods: The Senate Committee on Health and Welfare participated in a virtual focus group; all five committee members were asked six questions by a student moderator. The session was transcribed and corroborated with video review. Utilizing qualitative analysis, responses were independently reviewed and coded into common themes to identify trends in health priorities as identified by the policymakers, and Senators’ methods used to identify those health needs.
Results: Community health priorities identified by Senate health policymakers aligned with many reported in CHNAs, although CHNAs were not used in their decision-making process. All Senators cited mental health services, affordable housing, and substance use; categories also listed in the top five needs by most Vermont hospital CHNAs.
Conclusion: This study found that top health priorities of Senate health policy leaders align with CHNAs. While policymakers did not prioritize use of CHNAs as a resource to inform decision-making, CHNAs may provide a beneficial resource for them moving forward. For example, childcare and obesity often appear in CHNAs, but were not highlighted in the focus group. Future broader studies may give a more comprehensive understanding of potential CHNA utility in real-world health care policy development and implementation.
Advisor(s)
Jan Carney, MD, MPH
Larner College of Medicine, University of Vermont
Nancy Kaplan
Community Agency Mentor
Agency
Northern New England Clinical & Translational Research Network
Subjects
Access to Health Services, Community, Health Care, Health Communication, Health Insurance, Health Policy, Health-Related Quality of Life & Well-Being, Preventive Care, Social and Community Context
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 License
Recommended Citation
Antanesian, Anayis M.; Caffry, Sarah; Hutt, Nicolas; Leckerling, Andrew; Luo, Jiayi; Nguyen, Kadi; Quach, Anthony; and Zhang, George, "How Vermont State Legislative Health Leaders Prioritize Community Health Needs: A Qualitative Analysis" (2022). Public Health Projects, 2008-present. 360.
https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/comphp_gallery/360