The community health planning process is being offered to each community eligible for the Critical Access Hospital designation. The process consists of a series of 5-7 meetings over a 3-4 month period. A flow chart is inserted below to illustrate the components of the process.

First, a small initiating group of individuals from the community meets to review the health planning process, discuss the membership of the steering committee, gather the primary data for the economic impact study, and set the date for the first health planning meeting. A broad-based community steering committee is organized and the first meeting is held to present the economic impact of the health sector on the community. The steering committee is then divided into four task forces: 1) Publicity, 2) Directory, 3) Survey, and 4) Data and Information.

The next two to three health planning meetings involve the steering committee breaking out into these task forces. The publicity task force publicizes the process as well as provides a publicity “blitz” the week or two before the community survey is taken. The directory task force organizes and finalizes a community health services directory. The survey task force develops a survey instrument that will deal with access to health care and health care utilization patterns. The data and information task force is presented with secondary data in the areas of demographic and economic, health and behavioral, traffic accident, education, and crime. This task force reviews the information and looks for strengths and/or weaknesses in the community data. The process results in four products: 1) Economic Impact of the Health Sector, 2) Health Services Directory, 3) Survey Results, and 4) Data and Information.

After the task forces complete their meetings, the next health planning meeting will be to summarize the information received from the task forces; the directory task force will look for duplication of services, possible integration of services, or for services lacking in the community. The survey task force reviews and summarizes the survey results, looking for any areas of need in the community. The data and information task force summarizes the needs as indicated from the data review.

The results of the task forces are reviewed by the entire steering committee and then prioritized by the group to determine the top 3-5 issues within the community. From these top issues, the group develops an action plan to deal with an issue or with several issues. The steering committee then shares their proposed action plan with the community at large for their review and input.

The community resource team, consisting of representatives from the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service and the Oklahoma Office of Rural Health, provide facilitation of these 5-7 meetings and provide staff to the process. The first year of the community health planning process ends with the development of the action plan and the community implements the plan. The community is encouraged to continue the process on an ongoing basis. The resource team is still available for feasibility studies and follow-up to the process.

For additional information, contact:
Gerald A. Doeksen
Regents Professor and Extension Economist
Oklahoma State University
Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service
515 Ag Hall
Stillwater, OK 74078
Phone: (405) 744-6081
Fax: (405) 744-9835
Email: gad@okstate.edu

or

Cheryl F. St. Clair,
Assistant Extension Specialist
Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service
Oklahoma State University
515 Ag Hall
Stillwater, OK 74078
Phone: (405) 744-6081
Fax: (405) 744-9835
e-mail: cheryl@okstate.edu