Ambulatory Care Sensitive (ACS) Conditions -- those health conditions resulting in acute hospital care, but which are deemed preventable with access and timely use of primary health care services.
American Community Survey (ACS) -- an annual nationwide survey by the U.S. Bureau of the Census to collect and produce population and housing information, and indicators of population and community socio-demographic changes.
Body Mass Index (BMI ) –an index which gives a general indication of adoposity or excess body-fat –to-lean ratio, based on an individual’s height and weight. Calculated as a ratio of the square of an individual’s weight (in kilograms), devided by height (in centimeters), times 100. In public health usage, gender-specific ranges of BMI (over 30 or “obese”, and over 25 but less than 30 or “overweight”) are associated with adverse health outcomes and premature death among adults.
Children in Need of Services (CHINS ) – Children in Need of Services are juveniles who: are beyond the control of his/her parent such that the child’s behavior endangers the health, safety, or welfare of the child or other person; has been reported to law enforcement as absent without consent for at least 24 consecutive hours from the parent’s home, a crisis residential center, an out-of-home placement, or a court-ordered placement on 2 or more separate occasions; is in need of necessary services including food, shelter, health care clothing, education, etc.
Communicable Disease – an infectious disease that can be transmitted from one individual to another either directly by contact or indirectly by fomites and vectors.
Confidence Interval (CI) – A Confidence Interval is a range of values centered on the sample estimate that is known to contain the true value with a given degree of confidence (usually 95%).
Core Indicators – Core indicators are data elements that the MAPP community health assessment process recommends all communities collect and track.
Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 – The deficit reduction act of 2005 was a federal budget bill projected to save nearly $40 billion over five years from mandatory spending programs through slowing the growth in spending for Medicare and Medicaid, changing student loan formulas, and other measures.
Federal Poverty Guidelines (FPG) – a federal poverty measure. They are issued each year by the Department of Health and Human Services and used for administrative purposes- for instance, determining financial eligibility for certain programs.
Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) -- a clinical setting qualified to receive federal funding under section 330 of the Public Health Service Act. Services are provided to HRSA-designated Medically Underserved Areas or populations.
Global Assessment Functioning (GAF) – scale used by mental health clinicians and doctors to rate the social, occupational and psychological functioning of adults.
Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA) – a geographic area, population group, or a public or non profit facility that has a shortage of healthcare professionals (primary care, dental health, and mental health). They are designated by HRSA based on: population to provider ratio, distance or travel time to the nearest source of accessible care. In metropolitan areas, a HPSA is usually a group of census tracts representing a neighborhood given homogeneous SES and demographic characteristics.
Healthy People 2010 – Healthy People 2010is a nationwide health promotion and disease prevention plan promoted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that is composed of 467 specific objectives, 28 goals, and two overarching goals to be achieved by 2010.
Incidence – Incidence is the number of new cases of disease or health condition occurring in an enumerated (census or other) population, over a specified period of time. Usually expressed as cases per 10,000 or 100,000 population.
Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) – The Infant Mortality Rate is the probability of dying between birth and exactly one year of age, expressed per 1,00 live births.
Institute of Medicine -- The Institute of Medicine was chartered by the National Academy of Sciences in 1970 "to improve the health of the American people and peoples of the world" by advancing health science and providing analysis of important issues in health and health policy for government, the professions, the private sector, and the public.
Master Address File (MAF) – the Census Bureau’s computer-readable file of all addresses and location descriptions know to it(residential and others), including mailing addresses and ZIP+4. The MAF also may contain latitude/longitude coordinates for the location of the structure points. Used in geo-location and mapping of resources or population characteristics.
Medicaid – Medicaid is a publicly administered program jointly funded by the states and the federal government that reimburses hospitals and medical providers for health care to persons who meet certain financial and other eligibility requirements for financing their own medical care.
Medically Underserved Area- Medically Underserved Areas are designated by the Health Resources and Service Administration (HRSA), and is determined through the calculation of an index of medical under-service (IMU) based on four variables: ratio of primary medical care physicians per 1,000 population, the area’s infant mortality rate, and percentages of the population with incomes below the poverty level, and who are age 65 or over.
Medicare –Medicare isa program under the U.S. Social Security Administration that reimburses hospitals and other health care providers for health care services to qualifying individuals over 65 years old.
Metropolitan Statistical Area – as defined by the U.S. Bureau of the Census is a core area containing a large population nucleus, together with adjacent communities having a high degree of economic and social integration with that core.
Mobilizing for Action through Planning and Partnerships (MAPP process) a strategic approach to community heath improvement, used to help communities improve health and quality of life through community-wide strategic planning. MAPP has been promoted both by the CDC and the National Association of City and County Health Officers for community health planning.
Morbidity – Morbidity is the occurrence of a disease or condition that alters health and quality of life.
Mortality Rate– is the number of deaths, for all-causes , or a specific cause, occurring in a defined population, during a specific time period, per 100,000 population.
National Crime Victimization Survey – annual survey administered by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Department provides information on criminal victimization., The survey allows t to estimate the likelihood of victimization by rape, sexual assault, robbery, assault, theft, household burglary, and motor vehicle theft for the population as a whole as well as for segments of the population such as women, the elderly, members of various racial groups, city dwellers, or other groups.
Prevalence – Prevalence is the total number of cases of a diagnosed or recognized condition or disease, in a given population, at a designated period of time.
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) is a state-federally funded program providing cash assistance to indigent American families with dependent children through the United States Department of Health and Human Services.
Years of Potential Life Lost (YPLL ) – a measure of premature mortality. It is the number of years between individuals’age of death and 75, generally the expected life-span for Americans, yeilding the aggregate number of years which are “lost” by persons who die before age 75. May refer to “total” years of life lost, or years lost to specific causes of death.
Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) – a CDC directed survey used to monitor priority health risk behaviors that contribute to the leading causes of death, disability and social problems among youth in the United States.