By Bob Strohm
bstrohm@wbcowqel.com
Local leaders in the business, healthcare, and faith communities came together Thursday to discuss the implementation of a Community Health Assessment survey.
Britney Ward Director of Community Health Improvement of the Hospital Council of Northwest Ohio gave a presentation at the Galion Alliance Church on implementing a community health assessment which would collect information on the health of the residents of the county through a 115-question survey.
The procedure would be a four-part process in which a sampling of 1,200 people would be paid $2 to complete the survey on their lifestyles including weight, exercise, sex, tobacco, alcohol, and drug use, body mass index, behaviors and mental illnesses. The survey would then be analyzed and compiled into a report of over 100 pages with each section taking up two to five pages. The report would feature key findings, and compare the county’s data with the state and country as a whole. While the data will be released online, the information will first be released to the public via a community event.
The timeline for the process will take nine months. The survey will be implemented in the fall with the first report coming in after Christmas and the community event scheduled for the spring.
Ward explained that the next step after the health assessment would be for the county and the Hospital Council to prioritize needs and implement a plan including evidence-based programs to try to improve the health of the community.
“We are going to find some positive things in the report, maybe some that aren’t so positive, and we will come up with a plan of action,” Ward said. “The reality though is that we aren’t going to be able to fix everything. So we are going to have to go through a process to prioritize. We won’t be just willy-nilly be picking something. We have a process in place, it is a national process in order to do that, but come up with those priorities, and then really start doing some best practices, evidence based programs, policies, and environmental strategies to fix some of those.”
Ward mentioned that the assessment could be beneficial for Crawford County in the form of receiving extra CHIP grants from the government. Ward noted that Sandusky County received $1.7 in grants and Wyandot County received $410,000 in grants after completing the assessment.
After the presentation Galion Mayor Tom O’Leary was curious as to how the survey would cover the gaps in senior care.
“We need to make sure there is a voice from the seniors,” O’Leary said.
Ward answered O’Leary by saying that the gaps are usually covered in the ways that questions are presented in the survey.
Crawford County Economic Director Dave Williamson was enthused about the implementation of the assessment.
“The Process is more than just about the hospitals, it’s about the health of the community,” Williamson said. “It is great that we are talking now. I hope that we as a community commit to improve health.”
Before finishing, Ward noted that a sample questionnaire will be sent out in the late spring or early summer with a meeting to follow to select which questions go into the questionnaire.