Forces of Change Assessment

The Forces of Change Assessment is designed to help MAPP participants answer the following questions: “What is occurring or might occur that affects the health of our community or the local public health system?” and “What specific threats or opportunities are generated by these occurrences?”

What are Forces of Change?

The broader contextual environment is constantly affecting communities and local public health systems. State and federal legislation, rapid technological advances, changes in the organization of health care services, shifts in economic and employment forces, and changing family structures and gender roles are all examples of Forces of Change. They are important because they affect — either directly or indirectly — the health and quality of life in the community and the effectiveness of the local public health system. Forces are a broad all-encompassing category that includes trends, events, and factors.

Trends are patterns over time , such as migration in and out of a community or a growing disillusionment with governments, such as a community’s growing ethnic population, rapid development, or the jurisdiction’s access to a major highway.

Events are one -time occurrences, such as a hospital closure, a natural disaster, or the passage of new legislation.

Traditional strategic planning approaches often divide forces into four common categories: political, economic, social, and technological (PEST).

CHIP members will complete the Forces of Change assessment during late 2010 or early 2011.