Mercer County Health Department announcing that it has been selected to participate in the Strong Systems, Stronger Communities Technical Assistance (TA) Project. SSSC is an initiative by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO). The initiative supports local health departments (LHDs) in completing public health performance improvement projects through a tailored in-person and virtual training, TA program and peer networking.
Seven LHDs and communities were selected for this year’s SSSC TA cohort through a competitive process. Through the training and TA provided, these sites will work to address the social determinants of health and health equity by accelerating progress on the implementation of their community health improvement plan (CHIP) using the principles of quality improvement. Each team will hold an Equity Action Lab with their communities, during which they will identify, design and test solutions to make advancements in a short period of time.
Mercer County Health Department is one of the seven LHDs from six states to participate in this project. Mercer County Health Department is using the TA opportunity to address the strategic priority of Mental Health-Depression and Suicide. Work will include addressing Social Determinants of Health which have been linked to increasing risks associated with mental health and factors such as income, access to care, environment, housing, food, and insurance. It will also begin addressing ACEs (Adverse Childhood Events) to identify the highest risk residents, students, and families. Two representatives from Mercer County-Jennifer Hamerlinck and Alvin Zwilling will attend a training workshop from March 3-4, 2020, in Washington, DC, where they will network with other selected communities and build skills in public health performance improvement, design thinking, and community engagement. The seven communities will continue to receive virtual training and TA and participate in peer learning through July 31, 2020 to accomplish their project goals. Visit the NACCHO SSSC website for more information on the SSSC program and previous sites selected.