State Health Improvement Plan,
State Health Assessment Delivered to General Assembly
Documents form the basis of five-year
Healthy Illinois 2028 plan to improve public health statewide
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[January 08, 2024]
The
Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) has delivered the final
versions of the State Health Improvement Plan (SHIP) and the State
Health Assessment (SHA) to the Illinois General Assembly. The
documents were delivered ahead of the statutory December 31, 2023
deadline, and together form the basis of Healthy Illinois 2028, a
five-year plan to address major public health concerns and improve
the overall wellbeing of Illinoisans.
“As we begin this New Year, I am excited to start working with
partners across Illinois to reach the goals of a Healthy Illinois
2028,” said IDPH Director Dr. Sameer Vohra. “We are proud of the
thoughtful, inclusive, and deliberate process that was used to
complete the State Health Assessment and the State Health
Improvement Plan. These documents will serve as a blueprint for
building a more responsive public health infrastructure aimed at
improving equitable access to care and health outcomes for all
Illinois’s residents.”
The State Health Assessment identified five major priorities to be
addressed over the next five years. The State Health Improvement
Plan lays out goals for addressing those priorities. The documents
were developed with the input and participation of dozens of public
health and health experts and advocates from the public and private
sector across the state. The partners also took testimony from
witnesses in a series of statewide virtual public hearings held in
conjunction with the State Board of Health in late November 2023.
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The five main priorities in the SHA and SHIP (and the
goals within each one) are:
Chronic Disease
1. Increase opportunities for tobacco-free living
2. Decrease preventable chronic diseases through nutrition
3. Increase opportunities for active living
4. Increase community-clinical linkages to reduce the incidence and
burden of chronic diseases
COVID-19 and Emerging Diseases
1. Decrease disparate health outcomes related to COVID-19 and other
communicable and emerging diseases
2. Increase community resilience to communicable and other emerging
disease threats
3. Strengthen and improve public health system infrastructure and
coordination to prepare for and respond to public health threats
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Maternal and Infant Health
1. Improve accessibility, availability, and quality of equitable
reproductive health and well-woman/person preventative health
care services across the reproductive lifespan
2. Promote a comprehensive, cohesive, and equitable system of
care and support services for all birthing persons to have a
healthy pregnancy, labor and delivery, and through the first
year postpartum
3. Promote a comprehensive, cohesive, and equitable system of
care and services to improve birth outcomes and support infants’
healthy development in their first year
4. Strengthen workforce capacity and infrastructure to screen
for, assess, and treat mental health conditions and substance
use disorders among pregnant/ postpartum persons
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Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder
1. Improve the mental health and substance use disorder (SUD)
system’s infrastructure to support and strengthen prevention and
treatment
2. Reduce mortality due to mental health conditions and substance
use disorders through harm reduction and preventative care
strategies
3. Increase access to age-appropriate community-based care to reduce
institutionalized treatment and incarceration
4. Improve the resilience and recovery capital of communities
experiencing violence
Racism as a Public Health Crisis
1. Build the public health system’s capacity to advance health and
racial equity and dismantle oppressive systems
2. Develop and maintain a diverse and skilled public health
workforce for antiracist public health to dismantle systems of
oppression
3. Address historical and ongoing practices that perpetuate
environmental racism to advance environmental justice
During the first year of the plan, IDPH and its partners will
develop strategies to achieve these objectives and timelines for
implementation of each goal within the five major priority areas.
The SHA and SHIP were developed in conjunction with the Illinois
Public Health Institute and the University of Illinois Chicago
Policy, Practice, and Research Center.
[Illinois Office of Communication and
Information]
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