II .
Executive Summary
A . Goal
The ultimate goal of the project is to improve the quality of life of Polk County residents by addressing the behavioral health needs in the community . As background , several recent analyses of health in Polk County – including the Polk County Community Health Assessment ( 2020 ) – identified behavioral health ( i . e ., mental health and substance use ) as the leading healthrelated priority . The Polk Vision project pivoted off of this established foundation and conducted an in-depth analysis of behavioral health needs and worked with a diversity of community members to establish a focused set of strategies . All needs identified in the assessment are important – individual lives are impacted , families are raised up or challenged , organizations drive with a heartfelt mission to address local needs . The strategies distilled in this assessment were developed by project leaders to : ( 1 ) address the greatest unmet needs – those impacting the most people ; and / or ( 2 ) those who are most acute or urgent .
Photo source : Community Commons . Note that all photos used in this report are sourced from Community Commons or public domain sources . Additional , specific attribution is available .
B . Methodology
All project activities were designed to embrace highly diverse community members – key providers and stakeholders , consumers of behavioral health services , vulnerable individuals and families , public safety , public health , disadvantaged communities , and many others . The goal of the project methodology is to seamlessly address each of three research stages in the scope of work . The stages include :
“ We need a systematic approach that guides the assessment , gets us in front of issues we ’ re facing now , and puts us in a good place to deal with issues that may arise due to the pandemic .” Project Leader , July 2020
Stage 1 : Resource Mapping and Process Flow Goal : To create a statistical and map-based profile of Polk County . Deliverables included an inventory of existing behavioral health service sites and a profile of each . Stage 2 : Gap Analysis and Needs Assessment Goal : To generate a comprehensive analysis of the Polk County behavioral health environment and generate an in-depth Needs Assessment and Gap Analysis . Stage 3 : Implementing Strategies that Strengthen Communities Goal : To create strategies to positively impact community behavioral health .
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