Accreditation
In May of 2004, the Appalachian District Health Department was one of only six health departments in North Carolina to undergo the rigorous accreditation process for health departments as part of a pilot program. The accreditation of health departments is a new development within the State of North Carolina and is a part of a larger, national project promoted through the Center for Disease Control. Each year, additional NC health departments are involved in the accreditation process until all health departments in North Carolina are performing at a statewide standard.
Accreditation review is scheduled the year following the completion of the community health assessment. The community health assessment assists the Appalachian District and their partners to improve the health our communities by providing a statistical foundation of "where we are" in relation to the 2010 NC Healthy People goals for health and together, with local community partners, determine "where we want to go" in order to strengthen the health of our population.
Every 4 years, the Appalachian District Health Department evaluates the health needs of the local residents. The last community health assessment process was conducted in 2003. The Appalachian District shares the responsibility for conducting the assessment with their community partner: the Healthy Carolinian organizations established and certified in Alleghany, Ashe and Watauga counties. Additional information on the community health assessment, including the 2003 report, is found under the Health Promotion navigation tab.
The accreditation standards included measuring the local health department's capacity to perform three core functions: assessment, assurance, and policy development and ten essential services as detailed in the National Public Health Performance Standards Program.
The Essential Services provide a working definition of public health and a guiding framework for the responsibilities of local public health systems.
- Monitor: health status to identify and solve community health problems.
- Diagnose and Investigate: health problems and health hazards in the community.
- Inform, educate and empower people about health issues.
- Mobilize community partnerships and action to identify and solve health problems.
- Develop policies and plans that support individual and community health efforts.
- Enforce laws and regulations that protect health and ensure safety.
- Link people to needed personal health services and assure the provision of health care when otherwise unavailable.
- Assure competent public and personal health care workforce.
- Evaluate effectiveness, accessibility, and quality of personal and population-based health services.
- Research for new insights and innovative solutions to health problems.
The accreditation review process evaluated the ADHD's ability to perform these CORE services and essential function. The successful accreditation of the Appalachian District Health Department in 2004, proudly continues it's on-going tradition of maintaining high performance standards and providing quality health care services to our northwest mountain communities.
Links
North Carolina Institute for Public Health, North Carolina Local Health Department Accreditation.This is the main website for the accreditation process in North Carolina. It provides a map of accredited health departments and the projected review dates of local health departments throughout North Carolina.
Healthy Carolinians
The Healthy Carolinians website provides information on the 2010 Healthy People Objectives, the local Healthy Carolinian certification process, the community assessment guidebook and links to additional informative information.
National Public Health Performance Standards Program
This website is a link to the Centers of Disease Control (CDC) and the National Public Health Performance Standards program (NPHPS) and lists the national requirement standards for public health
National Association of County and City Health Officials
The National Association of County and City Health Officials is a partner with the CDC on the development of public health standards and is the "national voice of public health." Additional information may be found at this website regarding the programs and activities conducted by their membership.