Community Health Assessment (CHA) Webinar Series
Note: This event occurred in the past. Recordings from the Community Health Assessments In Practice: A Kansas-Focused Webinar Series.
Join colleagues from across Kansas for a three-part webinar series focused on practical, real-world approaches to Community Health Assessments (CHAs). Whether new to CHA work or looking to strengthen an existing process, this series offers tools, examples, and shared learning grounded in local health department experience.
Sessions will cover:
- Building a strong foundation for CHAs through meaningful community engagement
- Collecting, interpreting, and using both primary and secondary data
- Communicating findings to support decision-making and community conversations
Participants will also learn how the Kansas Chapter of the Local Health Department Academy of Science (LHD AoS) supports CHA work through shared survey templates, peer collaboration, and practical resources.
Session One: Setting the Foundation: CHAs and Meaningful Community Engagement
Presenters: Emily Brinkman & Joanna Sabally, WSU Community Engagement Institute
This session will provide a practical overview of Community Health Assessments (CHAs) including their purpose and how they support community health improvement planning. Participants will explore the role of community engagement during the assessment process, with a focus on engaging partners and community members to strengthen data quality and relevance.
The session will introduce how the Kansas Chapter of the LHD Academy of Science (LHD AoS) supports this foundational work by fostering shared learning, collaboration, and consistency across local health departments.
Session two: From Numbers to Knowledge: Collecting, Interpreting, and Using Primary and Secondary Data
Presenters: Sarah Jolley, PhD & Tara Gregory, PhD, WSU Community Engagement Institute
This session will focus on the data collection phase of the CHA process, with an emphasis on both secondary data (finding, interpreting, and applying existing data sources) and primary data (collecting data directly from community members). Participants will review common data sources used by local health departments, discuss strengths and limitations of different data types, and explore strategies for aligning data collection with local priorities and capacity.
Participants will also learn how the Kansas LHD AoS Chapter can support data collection and analysis. This includes use of CHA survey templates developed by Kansas LHD AoS chapter members, guidance on adapting templates for local use, and shared approaches to analyzing and making sense of data. The session will emphasize practical decision-making around data collection—what to collect, why, and how to use it effectively.
session three: Making It Matter: Communicating Findings and Starting the Conversation
Presenters: Sarah Jolley, PhD & Sonja Armbruster, MA, WSU Community Engagement Institute
This session will focus on how to effectively communicate CHA findings and use data to spark meaningful conversations with community partners, leadership, and stakeholders. Participants will explore strategies for sharing findings in ways that are clear, compelling, and tailored to different audiences, including community members, decision-makers, and internal staff.
This session will also briefly highlight how shared findings can help inform planning efforts. Participants will learn how the LHD AoS group supports this phase of the work, including tools, shared examples, and peer learning opportunities related to communicating results and using data to guide next steps. Emphasis will be placed on making data accessible, understandable, and useful for decision-making and community dialogue.
Get Involved & Stay Connected
Whether you’re ready to dive into the survey library or just want to learn more, there are plenty of ways to get connected with the Kansas Chapter of the LHD AoS.
Contact the Kansas LHD AoS Librarian
Questions? Ideas? Looking for a survey template or need help customizing one? We’ve got you. Reach out to Emily Brinkman, our Kansas LHD AoS Librarian.