The State Health Assessment (SHA) and State Health Improvement Plan (SHIP) Advisory Committee met on April 23 to provide input on the draft state health assessment summary which is scheduled for release by the Ohio Department of Health and the Health Policy Institute of Ohio in early June. Upon release of the SHA, work on the SHIP will begin. Executive Vice President Ann Spicer represents the Ohio Academy of Family Physicians on the SHA/SHIP Advisory Committee.
Preliminary SHA findings conclude that the three priority topics in last SHIP, mental health and addiction; chronic disease; and maternal and infant health, remain relevant as significant health challenges in Ohio.
The 2019 SHA is designed to be a comprehensive and actionable picture of health and wellbeing in Ohio. The 2019 version of SHA improves on the 2016 SHA as an online, interactive data website with county-level data has been added. The new SHA will also include data on social determinants of health like housing and transportation.
Watch future editions of the Weekly Family Medicine Update for information about the SHA release and continued development of the SHIP over the summer months.