Promoting Overall Wellness and Empowering Residents
The Defiance County Safe Communities Coalition puts out a Quarterly Newsletter. This publication offers recent crash data, a member spotlight, upcoming events, marketing features, and much more. You can view the latest editions below.
POWER Defiance County has been conducting the next Community Health Assessment over the past year. Please review the information on this page to learn more about the 2025-2027 Community Health Assessment. If you have additional questions, contact us by clicking the link below.
Mission
Promoting overall wellness and empowering residents
Vision
Working collaboratively to optimize the health and well-being of Defiance County
POWER Defiance County is the coalition which develops, monitors, and implements the Defiance County Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP). The CHIP is a blueprint for improving the health and health-related systems of our community. The 2022-2024 CHIP was informed by the Community Health Assessment (CHA) which involved public input and data analysis to identify major health-related needs of our community. This includes a series of surveys, community meetings, and a review of local, regional, state, and national statistics. The coalition reviewed information concerning the health and social challenges Defiance County adults, youth and children may be facing. They determined priority issues which if addressed, could improve future outcomes, determined gaps in current programming and policies and examined best practices and solutions. The coalition has recommended specific action steps they hope many agencies and organizations will embrace to address the priority issues in the coming months and years.
The CHA and CHIP process involved leaders and community members from multiple sectors including health care, social services, education, public safety, government, and more. We would like to recognize the following partners and thank them for their dedication to the Community Health Improvement Process.
POWER Defiance County Community Partners
Ayersville Local Schools
City of Defiance
Community Memorial Hospital
Defiance Area Foundation
Defiance Area YMCA
Defiance City Schools
Defiance County Commissioners
Defiance County Drug Free Coalition
Defiance County General Health District
Defiance County Juvenile Court
Defiance County Ohio State University Extension Office
Defiance Development and Visitors Bureau
Defiance Dream Center
Defiance Public Library System
Defiance 2100
Fairview School District
Family and Children First Council
Four County ADAMhs Board
Hicksville Schools
Hicksville Village
Maumee Valley Guidance Center
Maumee Valley Planning Organization
Mercy Health Defiance
Ministerial Association
Northeastern Local Schools
Northwestern Ohio Community Action Commission
ProMedica Defiance Regional Hospital
Recovery Services of Northwest Ohio
The Ridge Project
United Way of Defiance County
Hospital Council of Northwest Ohio (HCNO)
The community health improvement process was facilitated by Gabrielle Mackinnon, Community Health
Improvement Manager, from
Hospital Council of Northwest Ohio.
The goal in collaboration is to improve the behavioral, physical, mental and social health and overall well-being of our community. There are many factors that affect one’s health; collaboration encourages connecting, coordination and working together around common goals to help strengthen the programs, services, and resources that create a healthy community.
How did we get here?
The Community Health Improvement Process is an in depth process. Beginning in July 2021, POWER Defiance County met four (4) times and completed the following planning steps:
• Review the process and timeline
• Finalize committee members
• Create or review vision
• Use of quantitative and qualitative data to prioritize target impact areas
• Rank health problems based on magnitude, seriousness of consequences, and feasibility of correcting
• Open-ended questions for committee on community themes and strengths
• Open-ended questions for committee on forces of change
• Review the Local Public Health System Assessment with committee
• Determine discrepancies between community needs and viable community resources to address local priorities
• Identify strengths, weaknesses, and evaluation
• Review the process and timeline
• Finalize committee members
• Create or review vision
• Identification of evidence-based strategies to address health priorities
• Review of best practices, proven strategies, evidence continuum, and feasibility continuum
• Determine existing programs, services, and activities in the community that address specific strategies
• Review of all steps taken
• Action step recommendations based on one or more of the following: enhancing existing efforts, implementing new programs or services, building infrastructure, implementing evidence-based practices, and feasibility
of implementation.
Through completion of the CHIP Process, POWER Defiance established six (6) priorities. Based on the chosen priorities, POWER Defiance was asked to identify strategies for each priority area. Members referenced a list of evidence-based strategies recommended by the Ohio State Health Improvement Plan (SHIP), as well as brainstormed for other impactful strategies.
Below are the top priorities and corresponding strategies selected for the 2022-2024 CHIP
Community Conditions
• Affordable Housing Development and Preservation
• Early Childhood Home Visiting Programs
• Health In All Policies
Health Behaviors
• Food Insecurity and Screening Referral
• Healthy Food Initiatives in Food Banks
• Complete Streets and Streetscape Design Initiatives
• Mass Media Campaigns Against Tobacco Use
• Community-Wide Physical Activity Campaign
Access To Care
• Guides for Family Services and Support
• Public Transportation Systems
• Workforces Shortages
• Dental Awareness
• Health Literacy Interventions
Mental Health & Addiction
• School-Based Social & Emotional Instruction
• Develop a Unified Approach to Youth Prevention Programming
• School-Based Alcohol/Other Drug Prevention Programs
• Universal School-Based Suicide Awareness & Education Programs
• Mass Media Campaigns Against Risky Behaviors & Substance Abuse
Chronic Disease
• Blood Pressure Screening for Adults aged 18 & Older
Injury Prevention
• Increase Community Awareness & Education of Risky Driving Behaviors
• Increase Awareness of Child Passenger Safety Best Practices
• Activity Programs for Older Adults
• Increase the Use of Safe Sleep Practices
Explore the resources below to learn more about the Defiance County Community Health Assessment (CHA) and Defiance County Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP). New to the CHA and CHIP? A good place to start is the CHIP Talking Points and CHIP Summary. Questions may be directed to the Health Promotion Division at DCGHD by calling 419-784-3818.
