The advanced tools of quality improvement (QI) help to surface and untangle the relationships among the many variables that are connected to an issue or problem. Using the tools helps narrow the focus to a few vital areas where the impact on the desired future state is likely to be greatest.

During the 2014 National Tribal Public Health Summit, Public Health Foundation (PHF) team members Jack Moran and Ron Bialek teamed up with Laura Sawney-Spencer of Cherokee Nation to conduct an interactive workshop to demonstrate how two advanced tools of QI can be used to help understand the challenges of building healthy native communities. Download the full article, which summarizes how to use an Affinity Diagram and an Interrelationship Digraph, as well as the consensus reached among individuals from many different tribal health departments who examined this issue collaboratively during the workshop.

These tools can be used for similar exercises in any organization trying to focus improvement efforts on the most important root causes of community health challenges. PHF can also customize and facilitate a workshop built around this process.  For more information about customized technical assistance, contact us.