WMed Population Health Research team receives primary data collection contract for Community Health Needs Assessments in Allegan, Cass and Kalamazoo counties

WMed
The WMed Population Health Research team is completing primary data collection for Community Health Needs Assessments in Allegan, Cass and Kalamazoo counties.

The WMed Population Health Research team has been awarded a contract to complete primary data collection for Community Health Needs Assessments (CHNAs) in Allegan, Cass, and Kalamazoo counties. 

The Population Health Research team received the contract in May in response to a request for professional services from Ascension Michigan. While the team has served in an advisory role on past CHNAs, this marks a significant milestone for WMed as team members complete primary data collection for the latest assessments. 

“It’s very exciting that we get to do this important work for the entire community,” said Fernando Ospina, a qualitative research analyst in the Department of Biomedical Sciences who is leading the project. “We’re honored to be asked to do it.” 

Nonprofit hospitals are required by law to perform CHNAs every three years to evaluate the overall health of the communities they serve. As primary data collectors in this process, the WMed team is tasked with conducting interviews and focus groups with local stakeholders in each of the three counties to gather information about their experiences. 

Secondary data collection, meanwhile, is being handled by the Southeastern Michigan Health Association. 

“We are going directly to people, getting their direct words about what they need, what their experiences are,” explained Nia Evans, population health research manager at WMed. “We can do that both at the institutional level where we’re talking to our colleagues and our partners about what they are experiencing, and then we can also talk to the community members themselves and have both perspectives available to get that more comprehensive picture.” 

Broadly, the questions being asked center around what health services residents interact with, what their experiences have been like, and what is missing in terms of care. The CHNA also seeks to capture information about a variety of health indicators in communities, including things like living conditions, access to healthy foods, and quality of education. 

For WMed research associate Vaishali Patil, PhD, receiving this contract serves as validation for the work the population health research team has been doing for many years. It also serves as a tremendous learning opportunity, with the team – which has strong foundations in maternal child health – expanding to explore several facets of health as part of the CHNAs. 

“This is all based on trust. Trust is a major thing,” Dr. Patil said. “You are trying to take (the voices of community members) up to where it’s going to be heard and changes will be implemented, so (community members) have to trust you to give you all of this information and then you’re taking it further to the actual authorities. ... I think it’s a very critical position (to be in).” 

After substantial planning in July and August, the WMed team is moving into the data collection portion of the project this month. The team plans on gathering data through January 2025, maintaining dialogue with the Southeastern Michigan Health Association throughout. 

A final report is expected to be submitted in April 2025.