SHAPING CHANGE

Assessment, Learning, and Planning

The Illinois Public Health Institute partners with community-based organizations, health departments, and hospitals on comprehensive health assessments and strategic plans that are improving health equity in communities across the nation.

Our Expertise

With a specialty in inclusive, community-focused capacity building, IPHI has designed and supported more than 50 local, regional, and state health assessment and community improvement planning initiatives.

We integrate evidence-based models and practices into our assessment of a community’s health status and amplify the priorities and needs they express. Focusing on the social drivers of inequities, we help communities plan for solutions, allocate resources, and advocate for policies that improve health and well-being for all.

We share our expertise through widely used tools and resources, developed in partnership with the National Association of County and City Health Officials, the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, and the Illinois Department of Public Health, among others.

Our Work

Health Assessment and Planning

IPHI was instrumental in the creation, passage, and implementation of a law that requires the Illinois Department of Public Health to conduct regular State Health Assessments (SHA) in order to create State Health Improvement Plans (SHIP).

Now IPHI is supporting implementation of Healthy Illinois 2028, which prioritizes support for chronic and emerging disease prevention, maternal and infant health, mental health and substance use disorder, and racism as a public health crisis.

Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA)

The Alliance for Health Equity's Community Health Needs Assessment integrates public health data, community input, and existing research to document health status in Chicago and Suburban Cook County. The 2025 CHNA was developed through a collaborative, equity-driven approach led by IPHI adapting components of the County Health Rankings & Roadmaps and a MAPP 2.0 framework. This included 40 focus groups across the county and a survey of nearly 2,000 people designed to oversample the populations hardest hit by health inequities.

Illinois Project for Local Assessment of Needs (IPLAN)

IPHI offers training, technical assistance, and resource guide development to support Illinois local health departments in their implementation of IPLAN, a community health assessment and community health improvement plan. We designed resources such as a workbook, webinars, and other tips and tools for IPLAN development, implementation, and monitoring.