Knox County Tennessee

Frequently Asked Questions: Public Health Assessment


Why is this important/How is the information used?

The assessments are designed to provide a wide range of information including opinions about access to affordable food, health education information, physical activity and mental health services as well as views about the most important health problems in Knox County, the quality of the environment and even safety.

Nonprofit organizations, hospitals, the Knox County Health Department, schools, medical providers and other entities use this data to develop and evaluate programs.

Improving our community’s health is a shared responsibility of all of these organizations. In fact, the national Institute of Medicine defines public health as “what we as a society do collectively to assure the conditions in which people can be healthy.”

This assessment provides much need information to the organizations that make up our public health system in an effort to improve the health of everyone in Knox County. It’s one tool we use to determine if we’re making a difference.

These assessments are conducted every five years. The first round was conducted in 2009 with reporting done in 2010. Click here to see the previous reports.


Who is involved?

The Knox County Health Department is facilitating and coordinating the assessment activities for the Community Health Council and Together! Health Knox.


What is Together! Health Knox and the Community Health Council?

The Together! Healthy Knox (T!HK) initiative began in May 2010 with 20 community partners, convened and facilitated by KCHD, with the mission: a community approach to better health. Since 2010, the partnership has assessed health and perceptions of health in Knox County and used the data to identify three overarching strategic issues for health improvement: partnerships, policy and equity. The initiative has also recruited representatives from more than 50 community organizations and agencies to develop action plans to improve public health.

Together! Healthy Knox provides a framework for bringing together the individuals, groups and organizations that make up our local public health system, and guides our community to identify and take action on priority health issues.

In January 2013, the T!HK leadership team officially became the Community Health Council (CHC) serving the City of Knoxville, Knox County and the Town of Farragut. The CHC was established by an ordinance of the Knox County Commission with a supporting resolution from the Knoxville City Council and a supporting ordinance from the Town of Farragut Board of Aldermen. T!HK is now officially an initiative of the Community Health Council.

The Community Health Council’s vision is to build a diverse, vibrant community that nurtures good health and quality of life. It encourages a broad definition of health, which includes physical, mental, spiritual and social aspects.

A variety of organizations are represented on the Community Health Council and include nonprofit organizations, local colleges and university representatives, business organizations, medical professionals, local governments, and more. Click here to visit the Together! Healthy Knox website.


How/Why did the Knox County Health Department convene Together! Healthy Knox?

In organizing T!HK, KCHD used the Mobilizing for Action through Planning and Partnerships (MAPP) model for community health planning. MAPP is a community-driven strategic planning process developed by the National Association of County and City Health Officials and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Facilitated by public health leaders, MAPP helps communities prioritize public health issues and identify resources to address them.

Essential to achieving our vision of every person a healthy person is the development of partnerships and the engagement of stakeholders. By serving as a facilitator and catalyst for partnerships with nonprofit organizations, health care providers, local government, employers, schools and many other organizations that make up the public health system, we can have a dramatically more profound impact on the health of Knox Countians


Will my answers be confidential?

Yes. The Health and Quality of Life Survey will ask demographic information such as gender and age, but it will not ask for names. Responses given in the focus groups will be linked to participant numbers and not names. In addition, names are not associated with the data in the reporting of the Health and Quality of Life Survey, focus groups or phone interviews. Reports will focus on general themes and overall responses.


More Information

For more information, contact Together! Healthy Knox Coordinator Erin Read at 865-215-5549 or Erin.Read@knoxcounty.org.



Need to report a public
health emergency?

Call 865-215-5093

Have Questions? Call: (865) 215-5555 Email: Health@knoxcounty.org

On the first Wednesday of every month, all KCHD offices and clinics are closed in the morning for staff in-service. On these days, the main location (140 Dameron Ave.) will open at 11 a.m. and the West Clinic (1028 Old Cedar Bluff) will open at 11:30 a.m.

Clinics will also open at 10:30 a.m. (Main location) and 11 a.m. (West Clinic) on the following Wednesdays: April 17 and July 17. All other offices will open at 8 a.m.