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. 2025 Sep-Oct;31(5):E276-E285.
doi: 10.1097/PHH.0000000000002141. Epub 2025 Jul 17.

Disability Inclusion in Local Public Health Community Health Assessments and Community Health Improvement Plans

Haleigh Leslie  1 , Kate Beatty, Dawn Rowe, Thomas Quade, Kailee Havrda, Casey P Balio
Affiliations

Disability Inclusion in Local Public Health Community Health Assessments and Community Health Improvement Plans

Haleigh Leslie et al. J Public Health Manag Pract. 2025 Sep-Oct.

Abstract

Objective: To quantify and describe disability inclusion in community health assessments (CHAs) and community health improvement plans (CHIPs) at the local health department (LHD) level.

Methods: This study uses a cross-sectional design of the 2019 NACCHO Profile and Public Health Accreditation Board-accredited LHD CHAs and CHIPs to quantify and describe disability inclusion.

Results: Less than 25% of LHDs included a CHIP goal, objective, or activity that specifically includes people with disabilities. Having a disability partner as part of CHA and CHIP steering committees was associated with greater odds of including a CHIP goal, objective, or activity that includes people with disabilities (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 3.2, P =<.01) as were CHAs and CHIPs conducted by mixed groups of community partners (but not an official coalition) (aOR = 5.04, P = .005).

Conclusions: Given the role of CHAs and CHIPs in informing the work of public health, being disability inclusive in such materials is likely to reflect the activities of LHDs. However, disability inclusion and representation in CHAs and CHIPs are limited. These findings may help inform CHA and CHIP development processes and tools to increase disability inclusion efforts in public health.

Keywords: community health assessments; community health improvement plans; disability; health disparities.

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