In June, 2000, Partners for a Healthy Community received a $50,000 Turning Point Grant to assess environmental health conditions in Anderson County, prioritize the critical concerns and develop a strategic plan addressing those issues. We first engaged community stakeholders with broad environmental perspectives, forming a local oversight committee. Members represent public health, local government, education, industry, community, special interest, hospital, and environmental quality. They are diverse, committed, and representative of the community.
We established two essential assessment components: to determine community opinion and to complete a comprehensive data assessment of environmental conditions. Through focus groups, one-on-one interviews, and a statistically valid telephone survey, we found top community concerns are:
· Litter
· Opportunities to recycle
· Disrepair of homes and businesses
During the data collection process, critical issues discovered include:
· Air quality
· Watershed, water quality issues
· Minimal acreage dedicated to public use
· Management of growth and development
We host a strategic planning retreat, facilitated by Tyler Norris, Community Initiatives, on February 15, 2001. A broadened committee will assist us in blending community input with data collection to identify ways of impacting critical needs. Our outcome will be a strategic plan to inform our community about key environmental concerns, and to positively impact our environment, resulting in a higher quality of life for our citizens. During the APHA presentation, I will demonstrate tools and strategies used to perform this assessment and develop a credible improvement plan for our community.
See www.healthy-community.org
Learning Objectives: Upon conclusion of this session, the participant in this session will be able to: 1. Define three strategies to procure community opinion 2. Understand how to leverage community opinion against perception of quality of life 3. Describe methods of engaging community stakeholders 4. Build credibility regarding broad environmental concerns 5. Identify tools and resources to assess environmental issues and prioritize critical concerns facing your community
Keywords: Environmental Health, Community Health Assessment
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: Partners for a Healthy Community, Anderson, SC;
South Carolina Turning Point
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.