Healthcare Glossary

Quality Quest for Health of Illinois

Partnership for a Healthy Community

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The Partnership for a Healthy Community is a community-driven effort to improve health and wellness in Peoria and Tazewell counties and is supported by a $2.4 million Community Transformation Grant from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Quality Quest applied for the two-year funding on behalf of the collaborating organizations, which include:

The grant is issued through the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) as part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS's) Community Transformation Grants (CTG) to support public health efforts to reduce chronic diseases and promote healthier lifestyles in smaller communities. It builds on the work of Quality Quest and the Central Illinois Wellness Council (CIWC). CIWC is a merging of the Quest Healthy Lifestyles School Project and the Peoria City/County Health Department's strategic priorities group.

The project includes five strategic areas, 12 specific initiatives, and four work groups to organize and implement the initiatives in order to reach more than 300,000 people in Peoria and Tazewell counties. Overall project and fiduciary management is provided by Quality Quest. Program evaluation is provided by the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria Center for Outcomes Research. Additional oversight of project implementation is provided by the Central Illinois Wellness Council Steering Committee. Over the course of the project, specific initiatives will be managed through the committee structure of CIWC.

Five Strategic Areas

The five strategic areas were selected based on the needs of each county and include:

Tobacco-Free Living: Our region's rate of tobacco use at 20.3% is above the national benchmark of 14%. The project goal is to decrease the rate of adult smoking through a tobacco awareness media campaign and expanding smoke-free multi-unit housing.

Active Living: This strategic area focuses on two populations – youth and adults. For youth, the goal is to increase the number of children who meet the CDC guideline for at least 60 minutes of physical activity per day. One third of all children are overweight and they need at least 60 minutes of physical activity per day.

For adults, the goal is to decrease the rate of physical inactivity. Our region has a higher percentage of physical inactivity than the national benchmark. Initiatives to address the needs of active living for youth and adults include working with schools that have green space for physical activity, tracking the minutes of physical activity youth receive at school, and providing opportunities for afterschool physical fitness.

Healthy Eating: Our community has limited access to healthy food for some residents and nearly twice the national average of fast food restaurants. Access to healthy food is essential to reduce obesity. The project goal is to make healthy food more accessible through the use of farmer's market coupons for WIC clients, as well as addressing healthy eating through worksite wellness programs.

Clinical Preventive Services: Some patients do not receive all the preventive care services that are recommended for them. The goal of this strategic area is to increase the number of patients in the local healthcare system who receive recommended preventive services.

Social and Emotional Wellness: Our community exceeds the national average in the number of poor mental health and physical health days. Improving access to community resources, person-to-person caregiver interventions, and increased screening for adolescent depression will improve social and emotional wellness.

An initiative of particular interest is the Peoria South Side Community Wellness Action Plan. This initiative will bring together the appropriate organizations to develop an action plan to address:

  • Barriers to physical activity and healthy eating for low income residents
  • Barriers to chronic disease self-management for low income residents
  • Health disparities related to limited access to recreational facilities
  • Health disparities caused by limited access to fresh, healthy food.

Please click on the strategic area above or in the side bar to learn more about specific initiatives under each topic area.

The Work Groups

The five strategic areas were combined into four work groups for project development and implementation. The graphics below show the focus of each work group and what CIWC committee(s) are providing implementation oversight.