Community Health

What is Community Health?

Community Health focuses on identifying and understanding the needs of various groups within the community. Population groups can include people in a certain ethnic group, in the same age bracket, individuals of the same gender, or people with a certain disability or disorder. Once these needs are understood, the work of building solutions begins. This is accomplished with input from those affected along with community partners whose missions support service to people in need.

                                   

Examples include:

  • Holding diabetes prevention classes for a group of pre-diabetics at a large industrial plant during the regularly scheduled lunch hour -- providing lunch.
  • Engaging a group of concerned citizens fearful of lack of access to healthcare once their only hospital closed in planning that results in a unique and workable solution.
  • Embedding community health workers in the communities of vaccine hesitators to help them understand the purpose of the vaccine and why they should be vaccinated -- and then removing barriers (like transportation) so that they can get to the vaccine appointment.

This is just a sample of the ways Community Health meets people where they are and designs programs or policies to reduce barriers to optimum health.

Data Collection, Analysis and Use

To understand the very specific needs of various groups of people, Community Health organizes and participates in community health needs assessments and improvement planning. This is a huge community effort involving medical and social services partners and citizens. The process, which usually takes at least a year, provides a comprehensive look at where health needs exist and proposes evidence-based solutions to address them.

Links to local Community Health Assessment & Improvement plans in the West Piedmont Health District follow:

 

  • Virginia Rural Health Plan 2022-2026. The Virginia State Office of Rural Health has announced the release of the Virginia Rural Health Plan 2022-2026 (VRHP). The goal of this working action plan is to showcase the resiliency and assets of the Commonwealth’s rural communities. A series of community conversations and site visits that took place between October 2019 and March 2020 advised the scope of the VRHP.
  • Virginia Well-Being. Use this tool to learn more about your community by searching for your city or county. Compare rates with the Commonwealth of Virginia and other localities by selecting data indicators by county, district, or state.

 

The Virginia Department of Health (VDH) has multiple data sources for drug overdose deaths. Please note that any assessments or improvement plans finalized before May 12, 2025, have websites, charting, and data that use death investigation data, slightly different from death certificate data.
As of May 12, 2025, the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) uses death certificate data as the primary data source to report drug overdose death counts and rates to the public, including the media. This update allows for consistency in VDH's drug overdose death reporting for Virginia. West Piedmont is in the process of transitioning to the new metrics using death certificate data. During the transition, please use the VDH Drug Overdose Deaths data dashboard for statistics on drug overdose deaths for Virginia residents published by VDH.

Funding Interventions, Piloting New Ideas

Community Health in the WPHD takes the work a step further by identifying funding sources and facilitating grant submissions for promising programs aimed at improving community health outcomes. For example, a grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission was secured for Patrick County to obtain expert guidance in looking how health care access could be improved.  A companion grant provided funding to pilot the project.

Keeping Current; Providing Expertise

Community Health requires that health department personnel are out in the field, bringing services to people where they are. This means health department staff are active in causes like substance user disorder (Opioids Taskforce), lifestyle health (community gardens), and community building (United Way and other nonprofit organizational boards).

Last Updated: May 13, 2025