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Omaha, NE  68154
 

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Association of Community Health Improvement News

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Where We’ve Been…… 

Beginning with just an idea of an effort to improve our community’s health, 18 partners united to form Our Healthy Community Partnership (OHCP). OHCP, remaining consistent with the healthy community model, utilized information from the 1997 10,000 household survey, focus groups, and developed Task Groups around the top four health areas identified by the community- Continuity of Care, Domestic Violence, Tobacco Use, and Youth Substance Abuse and Risky Behavior. Thanks to the collaborative nature of OHCP, hard work and dedication have lead to many successful projects and initiatives. 

Our Healthy Partnership has moved from infancy into its teen-aged years.  We have grown from an original 18-member partnership in 1996 to 29–members strong in 2004.  All of the original members have continued to be the pillars of support for this healthy community initiative.

The last two years have been our most successful years to date– the Healthwise® Handbook Initiative, the second annual Youth Congress, the first Oral Health Summit, and the completion of a second community assessment are just a few of the year’s highlights. Our Domestic Violence Task Group has merged with the Domestic Violence Coordinating Council as well as our Tobacco Task Group with MOTAC.  The Omaha Health Care Consortium remains under our umbrella.

Last year the decision was made to invite local businesses to the table– bringing a much needed perspective.  Union Pacific has since joined our ranks as well as Planned Parenthood, the Omaha Community Foundation, and Catholic Charities.

A standing Finance Committee has been developed to assist in our fiscal responsibilities.  Additionally, the decision was made to out-source our accounting function.  We welcome Bland and Associates who began working with us in 2003.

Although we have grown in size and maturity– some of our toughest work is ahead of us.  As all of our partners know, being a healthy community initiative is a messy, messy process.  But it is exciting as well.  We have learned from our growing pains over the last few years and are moving ahead in exciting directions– leading us towards creating a healthier community. 

Moving ahead…..

As we have moved forward over the last six years, questions began to be asked about whether our community’s health has improved overall and about what our community sees as priorities. The frequency of these questions increased. So, the Coordinating Council of OHCP decided that it was time to conduct another community assessment.

Thanks to funding from the Douglas County Health Department, OHCP was able to contract with Professional Research Consultants to conduct a community assessment.  The purpose of the assessment was clear– to compare back to the original 1996 survey, to expand the survey to include quality of life issues, to use the date to establish community indicators of our health, and create community dialogue around them.

The assessment consisted of a phone survey, community health panels, and use of existing data.   The assessment was conducted in August and September.  The data revealed areas in which our community could improve.

It is now the goal of OHCP to not let this valuable information regarding our community, sit on a shelf and gather dust.  Rather, it is key that this information serve as a starting line from which to measure the health of our community, to begin to create a community vision about where we want our community‘s health to be, and to coalesce efforts to achieve that vision.

Initiatives and projects:

Healthwise© Handbook Initiative -

OHCP in partnership with numerous community organizations has distributed nearly 20,000 copies, 15,000 copies in English and 4,500 in Spanish, of the foremost self-care guide to families in our community.  The Handbook addresses over 200 common health concerns with an emphasis on prevention.  Users can read about when they should call a doctor for common family medical issues and emergencies and how to treat health problems at home, if appropriate. The Handbook, which was customized with a locally designed cover, has been distributed with training in how to use its helpful information.  An evaluation is currently being conducted to see if the book helped users make cost-saving health care decisions and choose appropriate levels of care (for example, calling the doctor instead of going to an emergency room).  

Over 30 organizations served as distribution sites.  Additionally, over 50 individuals went through a “train the trainer” session so that every book went out with some element of how to use the book.  Special thanks to Kathy Byrnes, of Nebraska Medical Center, co-chair.

Omaha Healthcare Consortium -

In April 1999, the University of Nebraska Medical Center in cooperation with Our Healthy Community Partnership convened a meeting of major health care providers in the metropolitan Omaha area to discuss the issue of access to health care for low income, uninsured families in our community.  Significant portions of our community (an estimated 60,000 individuals) are without any form of health insurance.  This situation results in delays in families seeking health care, inappropriate emergency room use, and increased costs.

Impetus for the low income, uninsured health care discussion was a Robert Wood Johnson “Communities in Charge” grant opportunity to support the development of a system of health care for the uninsured.  A proposal from the Omaha community was submitted to RWJ in the late spring of 1999.  Although the proposal was not funded, the health care provider group recognized the importance of this issue and decided to continue to meet and attempt to develop a solution to this important community problem.  It was the desire of the group to develop an effective and efficient system for the delivery of healthcare to the low income, uninsured population of Omaha and to seek support for the development of this system through the year 2000 Omaha Award (Scott Foundation). The consortium was successful in being a recipient for the Community Access Program grant, which provided the consortium with one million dollars over a three year time period.  The grant allowed for the expansion of the existing volunteer medical care program the Hope Medical Outreach Coalition. 

Oral Health Task Group -

In the fall of 1999 the Continuity of Care Committee of Our Healthy Community Partnership began to address the issue of oral health in Omaha.  Group consensus believed that oral health care was difficult to access and that disparities existed between private pay and government supported clients.  A core group of six individuals representing the insurance industry, public health, oral health care providers and elderly support systems met to address the need for community data.  The group designed and implemented a community survey to assess access and barriers to care.  The results of that survey demonstrated both expected and unanticipated barriers to care.  As the results of the data were shared, new community interest and concerns regarding the issue came to light.  At the same time, the Surgeon General’s report was released as well as the 2010 Health Objectives.  Both of these documents reiterated the community concern for this issue and stressed the importance of a partnership between the community and health professionals to work together to improve oral health.

Several Omaha organizations institute programs or plans in the past year to address oral needs.  Voices for Children, a political advocacy group, investigated a grant opportunity to define the scope of disparity between uninsured or underinsured children and the economic impact of that disparity.  Hope Medical Coalition, the lead agency for the Omaha Health Care Consortium, received funds to expand the service delivery to uninsured children through services provided by volunteer dentists and federally qualified health centers.  Lastly, the state and local dental associations have worked closely with the state Medicaid office to adjust the service fee structure.  All of these efforts have led to small successes.  However each organization has come to recognize that a coordinated effort could dramatically impact the overall outcome.  This project seeks to bring all of those efforts around a common strategic plan to create mutually benefit through networking and resource sharing.  The coalition formed to address oral health will assure that legislative and care issues compliment each other and begin to build an infrastructure capable of meeting long-term community oral health needs.

On December 2, 2003, the first ever Oral Health Summit was held at the W.H. Alumni House.  Comprised of area dentists Deans' of area colleges, health agency representatives and concerned citizens, the Oral Health Collaborative (OHC) has worked together since 1996 to address oral health issues in the Omaha area as identified in the original 1996 community assessment. In June 2003, the group finalized a community plan as a vehicle to create a common vision, define actions and measure progress. The next step included putting the community plan into action. The input and support of many more people was needed to move the plan forward.

To elicit this input, a summit was held with Dr. Caswell Evans as the speaker. Dr. Caswell Evans is the Director, National Oral Health Initiative, within the office of the U.S. Surgeon General.  Mary Balluff, of the Douglas County Health Department, has chaired the Oral Health Collaborative since 1997

Youth Congress 2002 -

The second annual Youth Congress 2002 was held at the W.H. Thompson Alumni Center at the University of Nebraska at Omaha.  Over 87 young people attended representing 12 schools.  They spent the day together learning about tobacco and empowerment.  The participants will apply for stipends to create their own plans for tobacco prevention for their community and will reconvene as a group to discuss lessons learned.  Funding was provided through the tobacco settlement dollars.

ACT!vateOmaha -

Seven core organizations worked together in collaboration with over 30 Omaha organizations to submit a grant to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Active Living by Design grant.  Over 950 organizations applied and Omaha’s Activate Omaha was one of the final 25 recipients of the $200,000 five-year grant.   A city-wide media campaign was kicked-off in April.  Simultaneously, a work group began focusing on policy around creating a physical environment to support active living, for example, walking trails, green space.  A logo and mascot has been developed and committees are in place.   The grant will be under the umbrella of OHCP.