LENOIR, NC (August 15, 2017)…Every three years local health departments and hospitals are charged with the responsibility of conducting a Community Health Assessment (CHA) in their respective county.
The CHA is the foundation for improving and promoting the health of the community.
The role of the assessment is to identify factors that affect the health of a population and determine the availability of resources within the community to adequately address these issues. Through collaborative efforts forged among community leaders and members, the community can begin to answer questions related to health status as well as available resources for all human services.
In a community-based assessment, community members take the lead role in forming partnerships, gathering data, determining priority issues, identifying resources and planning community programs.
The community has the primary responsibility of determining the focus of assessment activities at every level. This includes the collection and interpretation of data, evaluation of resources, identification of problems and development of strategies to address these problems. Thus, the community health assessment is done by the community rather than on the community.
To assist us in this important endeavor, we are asking for the community’s help. The Community Health Assessment Opinion Survey will be available for community members to take through September. The purpose of this survey is to learn more about the health and quality of life in Caldwell County.
The Caldwell County Health Department, Caldwell UNC Healthcare and various community based agencies will use the results of this survey and other information to identify the most pressing health problems in Caldwell County and to develop plans to address those identified problems. All the information provided during the survey will be completely confidential and will not be linked to any individuals in any way.
The survey can be found online in English at www.surveymonkey.com/r/CaldwellCHAsurvey or online in Spanish at es.surveymonkey.com/r/EncuestadeCaldwell2017CHA. If individuals do not have access to a computer or internet, paper copies of this survey can be found at Caldwell County Health Department, Caldwell UNC Health Care, Caldwell County Main Library and other organizations throughout the county.
Should you have any questions or would like to learn more on how you could be involved in the CHA process please do not hesitate to contact Anna Martin, MPH, Health Education Supervisor, at 426-8506 or amartin@caldwellcountync.com.