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Health Policy Technical Assistance and Education

Technical Assistance and Education

We are committed to providing technical assistance and education to enhance the capacity of stakeholders and communities around the state to improve the health of Kansans. We assist collaborators with addressing complex problems, tackling the determinants of health and reducing health inequities. Our approach to providing TA and education is comprehensive and focuses on the following principles: authentic engagement; equity; assessment and customization; leadership; and capacity building.

Our Expertise

  • Assessment of training and education needs

  • Use of multimodal teaching approaches

  • Development and implementation of customized TA and education curriculum

  • Design and implementation of evaluation to assess TA and education effectiveness

  • Facilitation of skill-building across a variety of domains including qualitative and quantitative research, health policy, evaluation, and a variety of health-related topics

  • Use of quality improvement processes and techniques

Services Offered

We have experience serving as the state and national hub for technical assistance, training and education. This includes projects involving community health assessments and improvement plans, evidence-base practices, determinants of health, cross-jurisdictional sharing of public health services, health impact assessments, qualitative and quantitative data, and health in all policies (HiAP). KHI also delivers TA and education related to specific topics, e.g., behavioral health, insurance coverage.

 

Currently we offer the TA and education services listed below. Our portfolio is not limited to this list, so we encourage you to contact us to learn about more ways we can assist.

  • Health in All Policies (HiAP) / Health Impact Assessments (HIA) / Health Impact Checklist (HI-C)
  • Medicaid Fundamentals
  • County Health Rankings
  • Qualitative and Quantitative Data
  • Strategic Planning

Sample Projects

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Medicaid 101 Training Series

KHI partnered with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, the state Medicaid agency, to promote focused trainings offered by state experts. KHI has produced customized webinars on a variety of Medicaid-related topics, including an overview of Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), other states’ experience with Medicaid expansion, and a review of the behavioral health system.

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HI-C Toolkit

HiAP Summits and Workshops

KHI conducted Health in All Policies (HiAP), Health Impact Assessment (HIA) and Health Impact Checklist (HI-C) workshops in Kansas and nationally. Kansas summits and workshops were held in Bourbon, Franklin, McPherson, Reno, Riley, Shawnee, Sedgwick and Wyandotte counties and across the U.S. (e.g., Louisiana, Minnesota, Nevada, Rhode Island and New York). The audiences included local health departments, health coalitions, water and wastewater staff planners, and representatives from the business sector. KHI also presented HiAP workshops to state agency secretaries, deputy secretaries and environmental state health directors of state and territorial health departments attending Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) annual meetings.

Pathways

The Pathways to a Healthy Kansas Initiative

The Pathways to a Healthy Kansas Initiative, funded by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas (BCBSKS), aims to improve healthy lifestyles and create healthy places using a community-wide approach across multiple factors. The initiative works to support policy, systems, and environmental changes to increase active living, healthy eating, and commercial tobacco control. KHI provides technical assistance to 24 communities. Areas of technical assistance include identification, collection and interpretation of qualitative and quantitative data, community engagement, education related to Health in All Policies and implementation of evidence-based approaches and communication strategies. KHI is also responsible for developing and implementing an annual overall initiative evaluation.

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Why KHI?

Expertise

For more than 25 years, we have developed a deep understanding of Kansas policy issues, systems, opportunities and challenges. With this in mind, we’ve crafted our services to meet the needs of our local, county, state and national partners.

KHI Employees

Why KHI?

Objectivity

KHI believes evidence-based information, objective analysis and civil dialogue enable policy leaders to be champions for a healthier Kansas.

KHI Employees

Why KHI?

Results

We provide actionable information for decision-makers working to improve the health of Kansans. We collaborate across sectors and jurisdictions to deliver services and products that support effective policymaking.

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Get Started Today

Experts at KHI can help you identify opportunities for achieving your policy and program goals.

To learn more about our Technical Assistance services, contact Tatiana, Lin, M.A., Population Health Strategy Team Leader.

Contact Us

In our service to county governments, the Kansas Association of Counties provides education, legislative representation, and technical assistance to local county government policymakers across the state. We’ve regularly referenced KHI’s research and policy analysis content when considering issues impacting the health of Kansas counties. During the pandemic, KAC collaborated with KHI when they were collecting and tracking the high volume of rapidly changing information concerning county-level reopening plans and COVID-19 mitigation measures. KAC appreciated being involved in this unique effort with KHI to conduct outreach with county elected officials and staff and to ultimately use their data analysis and blogs that resulted from this work.

- Kimberly Qualls, Education & Communications Director, Kansas Association of Counties

The Kansas Health Institute crafted a thorough quantitative and qualitative analysis that was used to guide maternal health efforts in Northwest Kansas. Furthermore, they made the effort to ensure that participation in the key informant interview process was inclusive and representative of the region. KHI is paving the way for more community-based participatory research efforts in Kansas.

- Travis Rickford, MPA, Executive Director, LiveWell Northwest Kansas

We have collaborated with KHI for multiple trainings, and have received only positive feedback on the events. KHI routinely delivers high quality services, beginning with the agenda planning and moving all the way through event evaluation. Their facilitation strategies are multi-faceted, combining instruction with interactive activities to maximize participation in a room. KHI is a valuable partner in the public health community.

- Kerry V. Wyss, Director, Environmental Health, Association of State and Territorial Health Officials

Over the last 15+ years, I’ve had the pleasure to work with the Kansas Health Institute (KHI) on a variety of projects and initiatives. I have found their services and, more importantly, their people, to be invaluable to advancing our shared goal of realizing a healthier Kansas. The technical assistance and policy analysis they have provided to the E-Cigarette/Vaping Task Force has been critical to the work of the task force, including the development of model comprehensive tobacco-free policies for Kansas schools. Their research & evaluation services are an integral part of the process of assessing the effectiveness of the first-ever ECHO project that is focusing on Vaping cessation. Whether it has been related to these two projects, the Kansas County Health Rankings development and dissemination, the School Health-Related Services project, their technical assistance is outstanding. Finally, I want to extend my appreciation for the use of their facilities for meetings of the Kansas Governor’s Council on Fitness, the Kansas Public Health Association board, and the BCBSKS Pathways planning committee. They are a true partner with both the exceptional services they offer, but also their high-quality staff.

- Dr. Mark Thompson, Education Program Consultant for Health & Physical Education, Kansas State Department of Education

By partnering with the Kansas Health Institute in various population health initiatives, we have been able to increase awareness of and education about health rankings in Kansas as well as highlight important work Kansas hospitals are doing to improve the health of their communities. Additionally, KHI’s expertise in population health improvement has allowed us to tap into a vital educational resource for this work.

- Karen Bramen, Senior Vice President, Clinical and Strategic Initiatives, Kansas Hospital Association

KHI has provided in-depth evaluation support and critical technical assistance for our Pathways to a Healthy Kansas initiative. The expertise that the KHI team brings to our team in survey and evaluation design has helped our grantees to develop measurable goals and see the progress they are making toward them. KHI has also created an exceptional data dashboard to bring the story of our initiative to life and help us show the breadth of the impact our initiative is having on health in Kansas communities.

- Virginia Barnes, Director, Blue Health Initiatives, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas

Work with KHI

If you would like to explore the possibility of working with KHI, please contact us! We would be happy to discuss possible approaches, timeline and cost.

Contact Us