Community health needs assessment in Wake County, North Carolina: partnership of public health, hospitals, academia, and other stakeholders

Hospitals and other health care agencies are required to conduct a community health needs assessment (CHNA) every 3 years to obtain information about the health needs and concerns of the population. In 2013, to avoid duplication of efforts and to achieve a more comprehensive CHNA, Wake County Human Services, WakeMed Health and Hospitals, Duke Raleigh Hospital, Rex Healthcare, Wake Health Services, United Way of the Greater Triangle, and the North Carolina Institute for Public Health partnered to conduct a joint assessment for Wake County. Information was collected from the community through opinion surveys and focus groups. To understand the social, economic, and health status of Wake County residents, statistics were also collected from state, county, and local sources. Analysis of all data sources allowed 9 areas of community concern to be identified. Five community forums were held simultaneously at locations in east, south, west, north, and central Wake County to inform residents about the main findings of the assessment and to prioritize the 9 areas of concern. The top 3 priority areas identified were poverty and unemployment, health care access and utilization, and mental health and substance use. Results may not be generalizable to counties in North Carolina that are more rural or to counties outside North Carolina. The success of this unique collaborative process provides further opportunity for the project partners and other organizations to coordinate action plans, pool resources, and jointly address the priorities of this assessment over the next 3 years.