VIII . Stage 3 Approach
Research conducted in both Stage 1 and Stage 2 revealed specific community needs that need to be addressed not only for the good of the individuals affected , but also for the community . As noted , the needs fell into the following four Strategic Objective areas :
• Building capacity and increasing access to care
• Reducing stigma
• Increasing services for higher-risk groups
• Breaking down silos
The goal of Stage 3 is to drill down into the four Strategic Objectives , identify primary actions to be targeted , and create a core set of strategies which may be used to accomplish the greatest impact . The co-occurring purpose of the strategies will be to establish a unifying trajectory for Polk Vision and community partners to enact which will address high-priority community behavioral health needs .
A . Needs Prioritization Process
The Needs Assessment enabled Crescendo to build consensus around the research results to prioritize the large quantity of needs identified in the Stage 2 report . The Leadership Team participated in a three-step prioritization process that enabled them to collectively build consensus around results .
• Round 1 : The Leadership Team completed an electronic survey to rate the importance of each of the 41 unmet needs on a seven-point scale and – most importantly – provide a short comment
“ The big issue is that ALL needs are important ! Our pathway , our road ahead , doesn ’ t have us doing everything – though I wish we could . These ‘ needs ’ represent our neighbors , our families , and ourselves . The distilling of ideas will help make us stronger .” Behavioral health care provider
their rationale for the rating . Crescendo tallied the surveys to maintain participant anonymity .
• Round 2 : Participants received a survey that included the same list of unmet community needs as in Round 1 . However , the second survey showed both the average scores and comments made by participants in Round 1 . Based on their own perspectives and the insights of their peers , the Leadership Team re-rated the needs list and submitted their responses .
• Round 3 : Crescendo tallied the results from Round 2 and presented them for discussion with the Leadership Team at a virtual group meeting . They had the opportunity to ascertain whether or not they agreed with how the needs were prioritized , further clarify the existing needs , share other as of yet unidentified needs , and suggest strategies to help address the needs .
Even with this extensive exercise , further clarification of the prioritized needs was necessary to determine what may be the most feasible or valuable points to start . More information on that is detailed in the Strategic Planning Exercises section .
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