MAP-IT: A Model for
Implementing Healthy People
2020
Copyright © 2014 by The University of Kansas
What is MAP-IT?
MAP-IT is a framework for planning and evaluating public health interventions in a
community.
MAP-IT has five steps:
Mobilize individuals and organizations that care about the health of your community
into a coalition.
Assess the areas of greatest need in your community, and the strengths and resources
that you can tap into to address those areas.
Plan your approach: start with a vision of where you want to be as a
strategies and action steps to help achieve that vision.
community; add
Implement your plan using concrete action steps that can be monitored and will make a
difference.
Track your progress over time.
Copyright © 2014 by The University of Kansas
Why use MAP-IT?
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It involves all stakeholders, making for a widely-supported and
community-owned effort
It assesses assets as well as needs, and looks for ways to use them
Assessment means that the effort will start from the reality of the
community, rather than from some preconceived idea of what’s
necessary or what resources are available
It produces a comprehensive and specific plan, with reasonable
time lines, assigned responsibility, clear objectives, and welldefined action steps related to an overall strategy
It incorporates evaluation from the beginning, allowing adjustment
when necessary
Copyright © 2014 by The University of Kansas
How do you use MAP-IT?
1. Mobilize
 Consider what you want coalition partners to do and how the
coalition might be organized
 Brainstorm potential partners
 Recruit coalition members
 Create a vision for the coalition
Copyright © 2014 by The University of Kansas
How do you use MAP-IT? (cont.)
2. Assess
• Collect locally available data about resources and needs
• Collect information from public and archival sources
• Determine what issues are most important to community
residents and key stakeholders
• Identify community assets, including people, skills,
capacity and capacity building, space, organizations and
institutions, knowledge, funds, etc.
• Based on data and community priorities, prioritize needs
by consensus
• Establish baseline data
Copyright © 2014 by The University of Kansas
How do you use MAP-IT?
(cont.)
3. Plan
• Choose the issue(s) the initiative will work on
• Set clear objectives
For each objective, develop an action plan that includes:
• A strategy and tactics
• A time line with reasonable time targets for each phase of the
strategy
• The responsible parties and their roles and tasks
• Indicators and/or other measures of progress
Copyright © 2014 by The University of Kansas
How do you use MAP-IT? (cont.)
4. Implement
• Identify an individual or organization to serve as the
coordinating point for the implementation of the initiative
• Make sure that everyone involved knows what’s going on
and what everyone else is doing
• Use the media and other channels to inform the
community about the work of the initiative
Copyright © 2014 by The University of Kansas
How do you use MAP-IT? (cont.)
5. Track
 Start your evaluation and monitoring at the very beginning of your
initiative, if possible
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Set up a system for gathering data
Consider:
 Data Quality
 Limitations of self-reported data
 Data validity and reliability
 Data availability
 Organize and analyze data on a regular basis, so that you can make
appropriate adjustments in your work as time goes on
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Share progress and successes with the community
Copyright © 2014 by The University of Kansas
MAP-IT: Additional Resources
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Healthy People 2020, http://healthypeople.gov/ - Healthy People is a collaboration between
several different organizations with the mission of setting objectives for the health of the
nation. They provide the MAP-IT framework for Implementation, as well as many other useful
pages, including:
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Organizing a Coalition:
http://healthypeople.gov/2020/implementing/QuestionsToConsider.pdf - Provides a list of
important questions to consider before organizing a coalition, in a printable format that
allows you to fill out answers to the questions and/or distribute them to a planning group.
Potential Partners: http://healthypeople.gov/2020/implementing/BrainstormPotenial.pdf A
checklist that will help you think of all possibilities for potential partners for your effort.
Prioritizing Issues: http://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/implementing/PrioritizingIssues.pdf
An exercise that will assist you in determining which issues it is most important for your effort
to undertake.
Community Assets:
http://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/implementing/BrainstormCommunity.pdf A checklist
to assist you in determining community assets that are available.
Measuring Progress:
http://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/implementing/MeasuringProgress.pdf Helpful
formulas for quantitatively measuring your progress.
Copyright © 2014 by The University of Kansas