The Orange County Health Department is required to conduct a community health assessment every four years. To assess the health of the county, a large group of volunteers have been working for many months. They are reviewing the available data related to various health issues and talking with community members and service providers. Their goal is to find out where there are gaps and needs for people living in Orange County and also what emerging issues or trends may be affecting the health of residents.
A key component of the assessment process is a community survey. Staff and volunteers from the Health Department will be traveling door-to-door to survey a random sample of households across the county. The survey will take about 45 minutes to complete and will be confidential. The name of the person who is surveyed will not be asked nor will it be connected to their responses in any way.
Teams of surveyors will be working in Chapel Hill and surrounding areas of the southern part of the county on Friday, March 18, and Saturday, March 19. The following weekend on Friday, March 25, and Saturday, March 26, teams will be working in Hillsborough and the northern portion of the County. All volunteers will be wearing Orange County Health Department or Healthy Carolinians of Orange County T-shirts and identification badges; many will be driving county cars.
If a surveyor comes to your door, please take the time to share your opinions with them. Also, please secure pets for the safety of the surveyor teams. Participants will not be paid, but will receive a small gift of appreciation and informational materials about Orange County services.
The results of the survey will be compiled and included in the final report of the community health assessment, which will be completed in November 2011. People’s responses and opinions will help to determine the direction of future programs for the health department and other agencies across the county who depend on the community assessment process to determine what the needs of the county are in terms of health.
Volunteers are still needed to help conduct the surveys. If you are able to work from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on any of the survey days listed above and would like to be involved in this important community process, please contact Amanda Bartolomeo at abartolomeo@co.orange.nc.us or 245-2388.
Bilingual English-Spanish speakers are needed as well as. Volunteers need no prior experience; training will be offered on each survey day from 8 to 9 a.m. Breakfast, lunch, snacks and refreshments will be provided to all volunteers.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Feel free to send us a comment. Just be sure to keep it clean and respectful. And we reserve the right to not publish anonymous comments.