Exercises - PH 421: What Is Community Health Assessment?

In addition to a variety of learning activities, there are 3 instructor-evaluated activities associated with PH 421: (1) complete the individual exercise; (2) participate in a multi-learner conferencing exercise; and (3) complete and submit the assessment quiz. Each of these is explained below.


Learning Activities (Note: these ARE NOT to be submitted!)

A series of individual learning exercises for this module are provided below. Completing these exercises will familiarize you with the knowledge, skills and attitudes that relate to the competency expectation for this module that is described above. Note that learners are not required to submit written response for these learning exercises. Completing these exercises, however, will prepare you for components of this module that are assessed and scored.

  1. Review the basic content for PH 421, which is provided in several online resources:
  2. MAPP has several components that assist communities in identifying and addressing important community health problems (see the MAPP web site or the MAPP Field Guide). Describe the major components of the MAPP process and how each contributes to a comprehensive community health improvement strategy.
  3. Review the Community Tool Box materials on Developing a Community Plan. What barriers exist in your community? Who should be involved? What messages should be directed to them?
  4. What overall lessons for planning an assessment strategy do you take away from the APEX-PH, MAPP, and Community Tool Box resources?
  5. Why is it important to integrate and balance asset-based approaches and needs-based approaches in community health assessment?
  6. Review information available at the Illinois Project for Local Assessment of Needs (IPLAN) web site. How has community health assessment become a required component of local public health practice in Illinois?
  7. Your friend who works as a computer programmer for a dot com firm asks you "What is public health assessment?" How would you respond?

Evaluated Activities (Note: these ARE to be submitted!)

(1) Individual Exercise

Each learner will submit a brief response to the following exercise. Produce your response on a separate document to be uploaded at the "Submit Assignments" link. Please use "PH 421 Individual Exercises" as the title of your submission.

Go to the MAPP web site (accessible by clicking on the MAPP link at the NACCHO Tools site) and register for access to the MAPP instrument and materials. Then evaluate the APEX-PH and MAPP processes as possible models for use in your own community. What are the strengths and weaknesses of each and which of these (or another model) do you believe would be most appropriate for implementation in your community at the present time? Why?

(2) Conferencing Exercise

Add your contributions to this multi-learner conferencing exercise after reviewing any available submissions by other learners. Consider the arguments and evidence for each position before formulating your opinion and rationale as to which position you would support. Produce your response on a separate document to be uploaded at the "Submit Assignments" link. Please use "PH 421 Conferencing Exercises" as the title of your submission.

As part of a small group examining the feasibility of implementing a community health improvement process in your community, it is apparent that there are two different viewpoints as to the appropriate roles for the public health agency and its staff and for other community partners in the process. The two viewpoints are summarized in the two positions below:

(3) Assessment Quiz

Follow the LearningSpace link to the Assessment Quiz. You may be asked for your login ID and password to access the quiz through your Preparedness Center Personal Page. Complete the quiz and submit your responses. You make take the quiz several times.

Course Evaluation: All learners are asked to electronically complete a Course Evaluation Questionnaire; this is available to you as an electronic form and will be transmitted to a data base without your identity being known, and your instructor will have no way to link your identity to your comments. Before participating in these course evaluation activities, students should review the specific learning objectives established for this course (and others you may have taken as part of this series); these are available in the Syllabus. Evaluation of the course should focus on the extent to which these objectives were achieved.


PH 421 Exercises last revised June 30, 2005 (dkapadia)