Four Local Health Departments Vital to Design of New Community Health Improvement Application

• Details
• Last Updated on Monday, 15 September 2014 20:36

 

Teams from Buncombe, Catawba, Cleveland, and Henderson counties in North Carolina, the iMap User Group, continue to review and make numerous recommendations that will dramatically improve the usefulness of the Community Health Improvement Application (IMAPP).  The overall purpose of the IMAPP is to provide communities with the information they need to effectively identify, select, and implement evidence-based interventions (EBIs).  A key feature of the resource is the ability for user s to apply ten different filters (such as time to implement, cost to implement, topic areas, and settings) to select EBIs that are most appropriate for their community.

The planning and design of the IMAPP is based on the philosophy of Quality Planning.  Quality Planning is used to design new products with the underlining assumption that the most successful products are designed and pilot tested based on the actual needs of those who use the product rather than the designers’ perceptions of what is needed.  Since November, the User Group has tested and adapted the IMAPP and will continue assisting with design until May 2013.  A second phase of the project is being planned that will continue to adapt the IMAPP while also exploring the impact of using the IMAPP to implement EBIs within a cohort of communities across the country that will work on improving several health priority areas.