Every five years, each local public health agency in Colorado uses data to examine the health of the community they serve and identifies solutions to address the important health issues found in the assessment. The Community Health Assessment is required for all local public health agencies per the Colorado Public Health Act of 2008 (SB 08-194 CRS 25-1-501 et seq.) and the national Public Health Accreditation Board and guides the Boulder County Public Health Public Health Improvement Plan.
2017 Community Health Assessment
In 2017, Boulder County Public Health conducted a thorough assessment of the health of our county’s residents. Along with thorough analysis of demographic and health data, the assessment included conversations with groups of residents to ensure that the community perspective was included, particularly from those experiencing barriers to health (i.e. health inequities).
- Conversations were facilitated with 53 resident groups (over 600 people) throughout the county
- Groups represented populations facing barriers to health from various ages, races/ethnicities, income levels, and life experiences
- Residents provided 3,021 ideas about things that could improve their health, marking 1,776 of these ideas as priorities
- Ideas ranged from nutrition, to accessing health care, to racism. Housing and mental health were identified as the top priorities
Mental Health Selected by Community Vote in 2017
Residents, stakeholders, and partners voted and identified mental health as the focus for Boulder County Public Health and community partners for the next five years.
2011 Community Health Assessment
To determine the health status of the Boulder County community and the community’s capacity to provide the ten essential public health services, two assessments were completed.
Boulder County Health Prioritization & Capacity Assessment
- 300 questions designed to generate discussion and a rating of the major activities, components, and practice areas for each essential service
- Group discussion and consensus-building yielded a collective rating, a quantitative score, as well as qualitative data.
