Population Health

Created an award-winning platform (2016/2017), recognized by the National Association of City and County Health Officials (NACCHO) (2018 promising practice, 2019 model practice), actively tracking 400+ local data points, with the utilization of 2,500+ partners (our own staff, agency partners, community members, and government officials) and growing in Garrett County as the centralized hub for demonstrable collaboration concerning the health of our community. Our planning tool is helping other communities around the world do the same, thanks to an award from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. (2017/2018)

If a service/program can meaningfully measure the impact of its work, it has an associated action group on mygarrettcounty.com to foster community engagement, provide transparency, and deliver accountability. These completed action groups make up the Community Health Improvement Plan along with other agencies, and community groups working together to make a difference in Garrett County!

This comprehensive document showcases both primary and secondary data that our community agencies and stakeholders need to inform programming and systems-level changes needed to improve health outcomes.

Our Community Health Assessment process yields mountains of data that are available on-demand through this research portal. Dynamic models and additional linked supplements regarding community health indicators on local, regional, state, and national levels are here for you to explore.

The Population Health, Informatics, & Innovation Unit publishes issue-specific, concise informational data briefs, condensing the data from the large Community Health Assessment (over 2000+ pages) into an easier-to-access format designed for agencies and community members to utilize and drive engagement focused on data-driven facts. These data insights speak to the effect of a particular issue in the community, highlighting community conversations occurring during focus groups. They identify local leaders with contact information directly responsible for impacting those areas, highlight local resources, existing public meetings, marketing campaigns, any action groups on mygarrettcounty.com that demonstrate existing strategies working toward improvement, and other ways to get involved in one document.

This call to action provides a framework for addressing priority health issues for those disproportionately affected by current policies and factors that negatively impact health. The Population Health, Innovation, Informatics unit is committed to presenting an equity lens for staff, partner agencies, and elected officials as we inform recommendations to the Board of Health on policies needed to address priority health issues, including the social determinants of health.

Garrett County Health Planning Council, is an advisory council to the Garrett County Board of Health. Its mission is to ensure a high-quality, effectively integrated community care system that is responsive to the needs of the Garrett County people. The Council will accomplish this mission through an open public process. This will encourage and enable the community to work together to adopt goals and achieve objectives. The Health Planning Council meets monthly, with the May and October meetings being held concurrently with the Garrett County Board of Health. The coalition is composed of a mix of government officials, agency representatives, and community members. In 1997 a collaborative group formalized the Health Planning Council. By 2012 Maryland Department of Health mandated every county have a Local Health Improvement Coalition to use local health data to set priorities and work toward population health improvement.

The Health Strategist and Informatics Administrator lead the HPC with coordination from MDH, working closely with the Health Officer to ensure responsive community collaboration based on data at monthly meetings. The Community Health Assessment priorities and Data Insights, written as briefs, guide the discussions as many Community Health Improvement Plan strategies are explored, created, and reported.

Designed to provide the community and government officials with information about the Garrett County Health Department’s performance in the preceding year. The annual report contains information, such as performance highlights, financial information, and links to the objectives for continued advancement in health outcomes.

As an accredited health department we’ve embodied the Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB) definition of strategic planning as “a disciplined process aimed at producing fundamental decisions and actions that will shape and guide what an organization is, what it does, and why it does what it does.” Our unit leads both internal strategic planning and external partner collaboration around shared community goals based on the Community Health Assessment to inform the Community Health Improvement Plan as we collectively develop programs and systems to address the health priorities of Garrett County.

Building upon a broad approach to chronic disease with a focus on improving well-being and highlighting a variety of local resources, we built an informative space that has become a nourishing online community. Everything from local farms where you can purchase fresh produce, recipes, healthy meal preparation, and yoga classes are highlighted. Participants earn points for watching videos about resources and can redeem the points for prizes that encourage healthy lifestyles while supporting a variety of small local businesses. Movement Challenges and opportunities to get involved with others on the same journey are also available.

In early 2022, the Garrett County Health Department’s Population Health, Innovation, and Informatics Unit set out on a mission to dramatically change the way people in Garrett County spend their leisure time, and reduce the burden of chronic diseases in the process. In an effort to increase opportunities for people to be more physically active, an initiative called GC In Motion (https://gcinmotion.garrettcountyapps.com/) was launched. This comprehensive program utilizes community collaboration and is specifically designed with community input to keep people moving with a variety free and low cost activities found on our events calendar here: https://gcinmotion.garrettcountyapps.com/community-calendar/

Conversations are happening around how we as a community can provide better experiences and improve access to fitness for people with disabilities. A convening of interested stakeholders thoughtfully consider our environment, the strengths we have, and ideas that we can begin formalizing as a group to address improved access.

The guide is designed to provide people with local resources, as they build a support team that helps them each step of the way. The first page is the diabetes risk assessment, and the guide provides information about healthy snacks by breaking down the glycemic index. We’ve also included several components of fitness, with details like what is aerobic exercise and how to know your rate of perceived exertion. The idea is that a medical professional can hand the clients a well-rounded information guide to reinforce healthy messages, clients want to keep as a reference. Providers can request hard copies at any time and the digital version showcases current advertisements for DSME classes in our local area.

Curate funding opportunities for community partners and agencies utilizing a grant development action group on mygarrettcounty.com found here: https://mygarrettcounty.com/groups/grant-development/ Currently developing formalized grant incubation processes to poise our community to respond to RFPs in a timely and collaborative manner.

In 2016 the Garrett County Health Department became one of only 6 local health departments in the state of Maryland and one out of only 200 in the U.S. to receive national accreditation from the Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB). In addition, only a very small number of health departments serving populations of less than 50,000 have been able to meet the best practice standards set by the Accreditation Board. The Health Department earned initial accreditation after a rigorous two-year multi-faceted peer review assessment process to ensure it meets or exceeds a set of quality standards and measures for public health. To maintain accreditation, linkages between the Community Health Assessment, Community Health Improvement Plan, GCHD’s Strategic Plan, and Performance Measures must be demonstrated with increased scrutiny on cultural competence and equity.  Public health is not something we do alone; the effort is viewed as the elevation of the entire community, with mygarrettcounty.com being the leading innovative practice that demonstrates every element and surpasses PHAB standards. Leading this charge, Health Strategist &  Accreditation Coordinator, together with John Corbin, Informatics Administrator, highlight the talented and dedicated people impacting health improvement in our community every day. Accreditation status was maintained and awarded again in 2022 for another five years.