All people in Delaware will enjoy healthy lives and healthy communities.

That is the ambitious vision for a team of University of Delaware faculty, staff and students who have been working with the state and the public since 2017 to develop a plan to address the most pressing health concerns facing Delawareans. 

The result is the Delaware State Health Improvement Plan (SHIP), a five-year strategic plan to be released later this month. It is the outcome of a strong working relationship between UD’s Partnership for Healthy Communities (PHC), UD’s Epidemiology program and the Delaware Division of Public Health (DPH).

“SHIP is making waves in addressing the top health and vital condition priorities in Delaware," said Sequoia Rent, chief of the Bureau of Health Equity at DPH.

The UD and state teams engaged in a rigorous process of reviewing existing health data and conducting a statewide health assessment, including a series of in-person community conversations with socially vulnerable populations as well as interviews with residents of all three Delaware counties. 

“Although some health priorities in Delaware have remained consistent over time, it is important to hear from Delawareans every five years about the concerns that deserve our focus and investment now,” said PHC Director Jennifer Horney, who also serves as chair of UD’s epidemiology program. “For example, we’ve made great progress in smoking cessation in Delaware, but rates of chronic diseases like diabetes and heart disease remain higher than in the U.S. overall.” 

Alexandra Wynn, a postdoctoral researcher, has led the multi-year effort since joining PHC in the summer of 2024. 

“We have identified five priority health outcomes: mental health, maternal and infant health, chronic disease, avoidable injury — things like violence, falls and car accidents — and then premature death, with a focus on drug and alcohol use,” Wynn said.

Delaware SHIP has also engaged a coalition of members drawn from 55 community organizations and agencies, who have met monthly for the past eight months. 

The coalition was organized around the Vital Conditions for Health and Well-being — a framework that addresses how meeting physical and social needs contributes to thriving communities.

“Healthy communities are safe communities,” said coalition member Traci Murphy, who serves as executive director of the Coalition for a Safer Delaware. “You can't build safer communities without strong educational outcomes, better housing supports and more connected communities.”

To ensure that disparate communities were represented, coalition members were invited to recommend additional participants from across sectors. 

“The coalition is so inclusive of people from a wide background with varied expertise,” said Esther Hofknecht Curtis, development manager with the Mental Health Association in Delaware, who serves as the lead of a coalition working group. “We have a real opportunity to better understand the needs of our community at the granular level, and hear ideas from people already working to make meaningful change.”

The collaborators represented in the coalition will ultimately be partners in achieving the real-world impact of the SHIP. 

“A strength of the coalition is its ability to bring together diverse expertise from sectors including transportation, education, nonprofits and our community members,” said Yendelea Cuffee, PHC’s associate director and assistant professor of Epidemiology.  “This collaborative approach leverages our collective knowledge to identify impactful strategies for improving health and well-being.”

This is the second time that PHC has undertaken the strategic planning process with the Division of Public Health to produce the health improvement plan, which is a best practice for state health departments and a requirement for accreditation. 

The Delaware Division of Public Health is one of 41 state health departments that participates in accreditation through the Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB), a nonprofit organization that serves as the only nationwide accrediting body for health departments. 

“The [PHC] team brings strengths in data-driven decision making and community engagement, which makes our health improvement efforts both effective and inclusive,” Rent said. "Whether it's PHC, local leaders, or Delaware residents, everyone plays a part in bringing positive change.”

Partnership for Healthy Communities 

The Partnership for Healthy Communities (PHC) serves as a bridge between UD’s public health research and education efforts and the communities those efforts are meant to benefit. PHC was established in 2017 through the Community Engagement Initiative, which works to facilitate and strengthen UD’s identity and impact as an engaged research university and community partner throughout the state of Delaware and beyond.