You CHA’ed,
We Listened
Community Health Assessment Findings are Here!
Community Health Assessment and Improvement Planning
Our Population Health team at Richmond & Henrico Health Districts (RHHD) work to understand the issues that impact health in our district and seeks better health through active participation of local residents and partners. Through the summer of 2024, the Richmond & Henrico Health Districts worked closely with healthcare professionals, community organizations, subject matter experts, and residents to lead a comprehensive Community Health Assessment. This important public health practice teaches us what issues matter most to you so that we can take informed action.
1,126 residents—including 465 people from Henrico and 661 from Richmond—completed the survey. Here’s what we learned:
We face challenges related to a range of health and community issues.
Residents could pick up to 3 health challenges that they saw as most concerning in their communities. You chose the following most often:
- Violence: 418 responses, or 34.8% of respondents
- Chronic health conditions: 389 responses, or 32.4% of respondents
- Mental health issues: 384 responses, or 31.9% of respondents
- Access to healthcare services and providers: 298 responses, or 24.8% of respondents
- Spreadable diseases: 259 responses, or 21.5% of respondents
We can take steps to address these challenges by prioritizing the biggest concerns.
Looking at these survey results, along with other community data, our CHA Steering Committee chose three areas as priorities for improvement planning:
- Mental Health, including Substance Use Disorder
- Community Safety and Violence Prevention
- Chronic Disease
Prioritizing helps us make concrete change in key areas. There are lots of areas that still need support, like affordable housing, food access, and stable jobs. We see many of these areas as connected and know that ongoing public health work will help us make an impact in these areas, too.
What happens next?
We need to work together to create a community health improvement plan (CHIP) in each of these priority areas. Our plans for action will be under development in spring of 2025.
If you spend a lot of time thinking about or working on one of these issues, we need your ideas! Let us know you’re interested in participating on a planning committee by filling out this form, by calling (804) 774-9776, or by e-mailing our Community Health Assessment Coordinator at jasmine.carmichael@vdh.virginia.gov.
If you’d like to stay up-to-date on the CHIP process, you can subscribe to RHHD’s newsletter!
How to Improve Health
The following resources provide communities with information to help select and implement the best approach to impact health.
- What Works For Health CDC
- National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices SAMHSA
- What Works Clearinghouse Institute of Education Sciences
- Strategies | County Health Rankings & Roadmaps
2024 Community Health Assessment Cycle
- RHHD Community Health Assessment Assessment – Coming Soon
- 2024 RHHD Community Health Assessment Findings
2017 Community Health Assessment Cycle
- 2017 Richmond City Community Health Assessment
- 2017 Henrico County Community Health Assessment
- 2018 -2020 Henrico County Community Health Improvement Plan
As a member of our community, your feedback is very important to us. Take a moment to let us know your thoughts on the assessments posted on this page. Please e-mail Tamara Jones, Population Health Manager, at tamara.jones@vdh.virginia.gov or (804) 774-9776.