2021 Community Health Needs Assessment

for Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities

From ISK’s CEO, Jeff Patton:

ISK is proud to release our most comprehensive Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) to date, which I am confident will provide a strong foundation for deeper understanding, collaborative action, and greater empowerment across the Kalamazoo community as we work together to better meet all of our health needs.

This CHNA will be a valuable tool for ISK as we work to fulfill our mission, as well as for anyone hoping to improve behavioral health or developmental disabilities care locally. I look forward to collaborating with partners across Kalamazoo to turn these findings into positive action for our community.

Thank you,

Jeff Patton

Read the full CHNA report HERE. View the board presentation HERE. 

Topics Covered

Local needs

Systemic and societal barriers to meeting community needs

  • Racism, social inequity, and poverty
  • Ableism, stigma against behavioral health conditions and developmental disabilities
  • Systems overview of unmet needs

Priority areas

  • Workforce development and hiring
  • Internal process improvement

Secondary data and analysis

  • Data sources overview
  • Poverty and health geography
  • Medicaid beneficiary population
  • Prevalence of behavioral health conditions / developmental disabilities

Many Thanks to Participants and Staff

This achievement would not have been possible without the generous participation of many community stakeholders. We thank the over 250 respondents who shared their experiences and perspectives on the local behavioral health and developmental disabilities care system through ISK’s community survey. Community members shared many honest and heartfelt accounts of trauma, seeking care, providing care, and struggling with unmet needs, and this wealth of diverse community wisdom truly formed the foundation for a responsive and relevant CHNA.

Many thanks also to the dozens of ISK staff who participated in ISK’s internal CHNA focus groups, offering their time and subject-matter expertise to bring rich context and deeper understanding to each facet of the community’s needs. A special thanks goes to the ISK CHNA steering team for organizing and leading this effort: Amy Galick (CHNA coordinator), Carlos Brown, Tracey Culpepper, Sheila Hibbs, Dusty Jepkema, Chris Klinske, and Jackie Mitchell.

Explore how we can work together to better meet community needs!

A FREE presentation of our findings is available for groups, workplaces & organizations on request

  • INEQUITIES in healthcare
  • GAPS in mental health systems
  • BARRIERS (like racism) to equitable community health outcomes. 

The presentation takes 45-60 minutes and includes Q & A.

Contact Amy Galick at agalick@iskzoo.org or (269) 491-4897.