In January 2017, Roper St. Francis Healthcare, MUSC Health, and Trident United Way launched Healthy Tri-County, a multi-sector regional initiative to improve health outcomes in Berkeley, Charleston, and Dorchester counties. The long-term aspirational goal of this initiative is to improve the health and well-being of every person and community within the Tri-County area.The Healthy Tri-County initiative grew out of the collaborative work implemented by Roper St. Francis, MUSC Health, and Trident United Way on the 2016 Tri-County Community Health Needs Assessment.
The complex and monumental health challenges facing Tri-County residents impact not only their length and quality of life but also their ability to contribute to the region’s growth and economy. No single organization, no matter how well-resourced or powerful, can tackle these issues alone. Research shows that successful collective impact initiatives typically meet five conditions that assure true alignment and lead to powerful results:
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A common agenda
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Shared measurement systems
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Mutually reinforcing activities
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Continuous communication
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Backbone support organization - Trident United Way serves as the backbone organization for Healthy Tri-County
As of June 2021, 75 organizations have become formal HTC Members and approximately 1,100 individuals interact with network activities and utilize resources.
Tri-County Health Improvement Plan (TCHIP)
The Tri-County Health Improvement Plan provides recommendations and action steps to address five prioritized health topics:
- Access to Care
- Behavioral Health – including mental health and substance use
- Clinical Preventative Services – including immunizations, cancer screenings and diabetes prevention
- Maternal, Infant & Child Health
- Obesity, Nutrition & Physical Activity
While there are numerous additional health issues that impact our region beyond the five listed above, community volunteers determined it is critical to address the health topics prioritized by the Tri-County community at large and to tackle issues that a cross-section of local organizations and institutions are best positioned to address through the discipline of collective impact. The five health topics have been explored with the following considerations in mind:
- Impacts of social determinants of health, which include factors such as education, income, where someone lives, etc.
- Importance of promoting equitable health outcomes in our region.
Conversations on Race and Health Equity Series
In concert with the effort to identify health priorities, the TCHIP Workgroup also looked at ways to promote equitable health outcomes in the region and to incorporate consideration of social determinants of health that impact health outcomes in the development of TCHIP recommendations and action steps. Trident United Way developed tools including a TCHIP Health Equity Principles Guide and TCHIP Social Determinants of Health Considerations to support subcommittees as they crafted their recommendation.
Conversations on Race and Health Equity are open to all community members. If you are interested in attending an upcoming discussion, please email Trident United Way Director of Health Angela Johnson at ajohnson@tuw.org.
Click here for more information on the Conversations on Race and Health Equity Series and to view previous discussion topics.
Publications
Tri-County Health Improvement Plan Accomplishments Report highlights some of the accomplishments reached through April 2021.
Download the Tri-County Health Improvement Plan Accomplishments Report.
Our Health, Our Future:Tri-County Health Improvement Plan 2018-2023 is the first comprehensive health improvement plan in our region that provides concrete recommendations and action steps for improving health outcomes that can be carried out by a wide range of local organizations, groups and individuals. More than 80 volunteers representing 60 organizations invested roughly 2,300 hours in the development of the Tri-County Health Improvement Plan (TCHIP). South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control served as the technical assistance provider for the development of the plan, and will support the implementation of many identified recommendations and action steps moving forward. Health care providers, nonprofit and service providers and local government organizations can find comprehensive information and technical action steps in the TCHIP.
Download the Tri-County Health Improvement Plan.
Our Health, Our Future: Community Action Guide presents highlights of the more technical TCHIP, and will be helpful to individuals, civic and social groups as well as organizations that want to advocate, educate and lend support towards the execution of the TCHIP.
Download the Commuity Action Guide.
Charleston Power Breakfast Reopening the Region for Business Part 3, hosted by Charleston Regional Business Journal, featured Healthy Tri-County partners Trident United Way, MUSC and Roper St. Francis. The discussion focused on the TCHIP with panelists providing an update on the initiative and the regions' response to the coronavirus pandemic.
View the presentation.
Multi-sector support for Healthy Tri-County
No single organization or institution can tackle the monumental and complex health issues facing our region. The collective efforts of diverse, multi-sector stakeholders ensures that our region is well positioned to improve our health outcomes.
Interested in learning more? Visit the Healthy Tri-County website or contact Angela Johnson at ajohnson@tuw.org.