BOISE, Idaho — During an event on Thursday, Jan. 11, around the afternoon, the Western Idaho Community Health Collaborative outlined its goals for addressing top health needs in southwest Idaho.
"It's going to take intentional collaboration and communication to really move the needle so that our kids or the next generation or your grandparents can really live and thrive in southwestern Idaho." WICHC program manager Alexis Pickering said.
WICHC is made up of private and public health leaders. The group released its first Community Health Needs Assessment in June 2023.
The Community Health Needs Assessment covered 10 counties: Ada, Elmore, Boise, Valley, Adams, Canyon, Gem, Owyhee, Payette, and Washington.
- Safe, affordable housing and homelessness
- Behavioral health, including mental health and well-being, and substance misuse
- Access to affordable health care, including oral and vision health.
WICHC created a handful of goals to help solve those issues, which are outlined in its Implementation Plan, such as identifying and advocating for new sources of funding.
Pickering said historically, Idaho leaves a lot of federal money on the table when it comes to creating more affordable housing opportunities. WICHC also plans to develop a campaign to help reduce mental health stigma in rural communities.
Further, the coalition mentioned partnering with regional Community Schools to understand and bring resources to needed areas and "audit marketing and messaging of current behavioral health services and resources to determine how to share information more effectively."
"The partners are committed to working on these issues together. So hopefully, when we do another assessment in three years from now, we can see the dial moved and adjusted as a result of this effort," Pickering said.
She also encourages community members to reach out to WICHC so they can include Idahoans from all walks of life in their work groups.
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