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 Change, growth, enhancement, excitement. These are just a few of the words the Iowa HHS Healthy Iowans Team used to describe 2024 for the Healthy Iowans Partnership. While the year brought its share of challenges, our collective efforts led to many impressive milestones. There’s so much to celebrate!
State Health Improvement Plan Updates
In May, we published an updated State Health Improvement Plan (SHIP). This version includes finer details such as goals, objectives and strategies for each priority area – all of which were developed and/or chosen by the Healthy Iowans Steering Committee and Workgroups. To go with the updated plan, we also shared a SHIP Summary and a guide on how to use the SHIP, providing valuable resources for its implementation. To view the SHIP and these related resources, visit the Healthy Iowans webpage.
Partners in Action: Health Improvement Strategies Throughout Iowa
At the end of 2024, we began the process of transitioning our Partners in Action component of the SHIP into an interactive, online tool for partners to use. We are excited to announce that it is officially live!
As part of this update, we also did a quality check of the information to ensure that it was up-to-date and organized in a way that is most beneficial to users. Based on partner feedback, Partners in Action is now organized by strategy name rather than by organization name.
If your team or organization would like to have a similar conversation with the Healthy Iowans team, please email healthyiowans@hhs.iowa.gov
Healthy Iowans Partnership Steering Committee
The Steering Committee has been actively engaged, meeting four times this year. These meetings have focused on:
- Sharing their ongoing work related to the SHIP
- Discussing resources for effective SHIP communications
- Identifying collaborative opportunities for Steering Committee members to support and synergize with the SHIP strategy efforts workgroup members are leading
Healthy Iowans Partnership Workgroups
Our workgroups have also made significant strides. Workgroups demonstrated strong collaboration by holding six meetings throughout the year. They focused on deepening partnerships and relationships, expanding their efforts in early 2024 to better tackle prioritized strategies. The workgroups successfully identified and prioritized key strategies, welcomed new members, outlined actionable steps for their initiatives and began implementation.
Access to Care: Behavioral Health
Over the past year, Healthy Iowans has played an important role in the redesign of Iowa’s behavioral health service system. Iowa HHS' Behavioral Health team used data from Iowa’s 2021-2022 State Health Assessment and input from workgroup members to inform their planning efforts. Additionally, workgroup members dedicated time and resources to expanding Iowa’s behavioral health peer workforce through community health workers and peer support specialists.
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 Healthy Eating & Active Living
As part of our effort to address healthy eating, Healthy Iowans has strengthened its connections. The collaboration between Healthy Iowans, the HEAL team from Iowa HHS, and the ensures that all three food-related plans support one another. This teamwork marks a significant achievement, showcasing the power of shared goals in benefiting all Iowans. By aligning our efforts, we amplify the impact of each plan, ensuring clear messaging, efficient resource use, enhanced community engagement, and strengthened accountability.
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Looking Forward to 2025
We are excited to continue this impactful work throughout 2025! In April, the Iowa HHS Healthy Iowans Team will be presenting at the Public Health Conference of Iowa on Harnessing the Power of Healthy Iowans as a Dynamic Tool for Collaboration and Planning. This is a great opportunity to expand our reach and share about the innovative work of the Healthy Iowans Partnership. We hope to see some of you there!
As we move forward, the Healthy Iowans workgroups remain dedicated to actively executing the action steps they have developed to drive the success of their strategies. They will regularly evaluate and refine strategies as needed to maximize their impact. Furthermore, the Healthy Iowans Steering Committee and workgroups will continue to foster collaboration and connection with others who share similar goals, striving to create a more unified and cohesive approach to their targeted efforts.
Last, with the launch of the Partners in Action component of the SHIP as an interactive, online tool, Healthy Iowans is excited to continue highlighting the progress and initiatives of partners statewide. This platform will provide an opportunity to share updates on impactful strategies tackling the state’s most pressing health issues, promoting transparency and inspiring further action. If you’d like your team’s work included in Partners in Action, please email us at healthyiowans@hhs.iowa.gov.
Thank You
These accomplishments would not have been possible without many of you. The Healthy Iowans Team at Iowa HHS is grateful to the Healthy Iowans Partnership Steering Committee, workgroups, and our partners across the state who actively engage in this work. We look forward to advancing our impact in 2025!
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