The Dallas County Public Health Department was honored July 12 with the Model Practice Award at the 2017 annual conference of the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) in Pittsburgh, Pa.
Dallas County’s Health Navigation Program was one of 41 local health department programs to receive NACCHO’s prestigious Model Practice Award, which recognizes local health departments for developing programs that demonstrate exemplary and replicable best practices in response to a critical local public health needs.
“Health starts long before we need medical care,” said Kelli Vellinga, executive director of the Dallas County Public Health Department. “Health starts in our homes, schools, workplaces, neighborhoods and communities. Many factors throughout life can create stress, cause illness and limit opportunities for success at school, the workplace and for healthy living.”
Vellinga said the Health Navigation program addresses these stress factors by serving as an extension of the medical care you might receive in the hospital or clinic, but the focus is more on transportation, food, housing, employment, mental health services and other community resources.
The Health Navigation Program is free and available to all residents of Dallas County, Vellinga said.
“Health Navigators are experts in community resources,” she said, “and they provide individuals and caregivers with skills, resources and tools to assert a more active role in their care and ensure their needs are met through connections to local resources.”
Clients can refer themselves to the Health Navigation Program, or they may be referred by a health care provider or another community partner. When the Navigators receive a referral, they meet one-on-one with the client and the client’s family either at home or another location.
“The Navigators assess the family’s unique situation and needs,” Vellinga said, “and they walk alongside the family to help them overcome barriers and access resources and social supports to enable them to lead healthy lives.”
Established in 2003, the Model Practice Award goes to innovative projects after a peer-review process, and winners are selected from a competitive group of more than 100 applicants.
NACCHO Interim Executive Director and Chief of Government Affairs Laura Hanen said the award “puts Dallas County Public Health in special company with a select group of health departments that exemplify a forward-thinking, proactive approach toward protecting and promoting the health of communities nationwide.”
The Health Navigation program is now part of an online, searchable database of successful public health practices in areas that range from immunization and maternal and child health, to infectious diseases and emergency preparedness.
The NACCHO Model Practice database allows local health departments, public health partners, and other important stakeholders to learn about the good work being done by local health departments across the country.
NACCHO represents the nation’s 2,800 local governmental health departments, serving as a leader, partner, catalyst and voice for local health departments around the nation. These local health departments play a critical role in ensuring the health and wellbeing of their communities.
