Community organizations in Barry County have released a work plan that will help  improve the health of Barry County residents over the next two years.

 

The 2016-2018 Barry County Community Health Improvement Plan outlines the steps a variety of county agencies are taking to improve health in five priority areas: Chronic Disease in Adults, Mental Health, Obesity, Smoking and Tobacco Use, and Opportunities for Physical Activity.

 

“The Community Health Improvement Plan really highlights local efforts that are happening to improve the health of those who work, live, and play in Barry County,” said Susan Peters, health analyst with the Barry-Eaton District Health Department.

 

The plan involves a variety of organizations, including hospital and health care partners, community coalitions and county agencies. It is a follow-up of the 2015 Barry County Community Health Needs Assessment, an in-depth measure of various aspects of health in the county, Peters said.

 

Contributors to the work plan include the Barry County Access to Care Coalition, Barry County Great Start Collaborative, Barry County Tobacco Reduction Coalition, Barry-Eaton District Health Department, B. Healthy Coalition, and Spectrum Health Pennock.

 

“Instead of working independently of each other, it makes more sense to work together so that we do not duplicate efforts and can have the greatest impact,” Peters said.  

Progress toward achieving the plan’s goals will be measured and reported on the health department’s website for the next two years. 

 

New contributions to the work plan from additional community organizations are welcome and will be incorporated into future updates of the plan.

The public is encouraged to read the report online at http://bit.ly/2ggRhuW and provide feedback via an online survey at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/BarryCHIP.

 

“We would encourage anyone who is interested in participating in the health improvement process to become involved with one of our local coalitions; they are driving a lot of the exciting improvements in Barry County,” Peters said.  A list of local coalitions is available at http://bit.ly/2lOMBKh.