Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #114468

Dannielle Sherrets, MPH, CHES, Coordinator, Traffic Safety Policy, AAA National Office -Government Relations, 607 14th Street NW, Suite 200, Washington, DC 20005, 202-942-2063, dsherrets@national.aaa.com and Anne Martin, MPH, CHES, Student and Resident Affairs Director, California Academy of Family Physicians, 1520 Pacific Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94109.

In 2002-2003, Alexandria, Virginia embarked upon a city-wide Community Health Assessment. The Alexandria Health Perspectives Survey was designed to gather perceptions of the community on the prevalence of chronic diseases, infectious diseases, and health behaviors, as part of the social assessment. The perception of health service importance was also assessed in the survey.

Guided by a working subcommittee of the Community Health Assessment steering committee, authors designed a 44-question telephone survey. Pilot testing and cognitive testing of the tool was completed to ensure validity. The survey was implemented over the course of 2 months to a statistically significant sample of city residents (n=383). Results were analyzed in entirety, and per zip code, ethnicity, age, and insurance status. This paper details the implementation process and results, as well as challenges, providing a resource for communities considering conducting community-wide survey.

Needs assessments are vital to thoroughly creating and implementing successful health promotion programs. Although, many models exist to guide professionals in the conducting needs assessments, rarely are the intricate details of each step revealed in research.

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