|
|
|
|
Summary of Community Needs AssessmentIn addition to the establishment of the Community Report Cards, Act 53 directs Vermont’s hospitals to conduct Community Assessments. The Act 53 assessment process was developed to help ensure hospital planning efforts at the local and State level were based upon community needs and to serve as a basis for efforts to improve community health as has been NMC’s ongoing practice.
In keeping with that provision, NMC conducted a Community Assessment in the Act 53 format during 2004 in alignment with the ongoing assessment efforts of NMC strategic planning, the Franklin Grand Isle United Way, the Franklin Grand Isle Community Partnership, and the Vermont Department of Health.
Through the Act 53 process, NMC was assigned a specific service area (defined by zip codes) to consider in the assessment. It was also given a set of quantitative data regarding this area on the specific areas of interest put forth by the uniform assessment process.
In addition to the data provided, NMC and its assessment partners were able to draw upon their familiarity with additional data sources as we engaged the community in discussion, including:
- Community data NMC had gathered during its strategic planning process, including the results of a professional community perceptions survey and related focus groups of community leaders.
- The Healthy Vermonters 2010 data for Franklin and Grand Isle Counties.
- The data included in the 2003 Community Assessment conducted by the Franklin Grand Isle United Way in partnership with NMC and other community agencies.
- The community assessment survey conducted at the 2004 Health Fair.
NMC and our assessment partners then held a pair of public meetings in November of 2004 (one in Franklin County and one in Grand Isle County) to discuss the data and begin to identify priorities. From these meetings came a draft set of priorities. We then shared that draft with a wide variety of key individuals and community groups, encompassing business leaders, community agencies, health care professionals, elected officials, and others through interviews, presentations, and email. Their input shaped the final statement of health improvement priorities, vital strategies, and health care resource priorities contained in the assessment.
As a sampling, here are three of the health priorities which were discussed most passionately during the assessment process:
- In an effort to address the high rates of deaths from cardiac disease in our community as well as reducing other health problems, individuals need support and assistance in making personal behavior changes relating to:
- Smoking – The provided data shows our percentage of adults currently smoking to be higher than the State (25.6% vs 21.2%);
- Exercise – The provided data shows our percentage of adults meeting physical activity recommendations to be lower than the State (46.7% vs 55.1%);
- Nutrition – The provided data shows our percentage of adults who are over their healthy weight to be higher than the State (56.2% vs 53.7%).
- The need to reduce alcohol and substance abuse, with a special (but not exclusive) emphasis on youth. The provided data shows our youth alcohol use during the past 30 days (38.8% vs 39.0%) and our youth marijuana use during the past 30 days (23.3% vs 24.6%) both to be slightly better than the State. Both were felt to be unacceptably high within our community. Likewise, the provided data shows our adult’s at risk for heavy alcohol (6.6% vs 7.2%) and adults at risk for binge drinking (16.5% vs 17.8%) to be slightly better than the State. Both were felt to be unacceptably high within our community. Alcohol and substance abuse was frequently sited as a possible root cause of, or contributing factor in, many of the other issues facing our community.
- The need to reduce the abuse of children and adults. The provided data shows our area has higher rates than the State overall of child physical abuse (19.1 vs 16.6), child sexual abuse (38.6 vs 30.2), and child neglect (48.6 vs 36.2).
Click here to access the full Community Assessment, including the full set of priorities as well as the data tables provided to NMC by the State. Print copies may also be available from the NMC Community Services Office at the following address:
Community Assessment Contact Information:
For more information on the Community Assessment, please contact:
Jonathan Billings
Director of Planning & Community Services
NMC, PO Box 1370, St. Albans, VT 05478
Telephone: (802) 524-1044
Fax: (802) 524-1291
jbillings@nmcinc.org
Update, 9/29/06: For information on NMC's September 2006 public event relating to the Community Needs Assessment, please click here.
Update, 2/22/06: On February 21, 2006, NMC hosted a Community Forum to review the priorities contained in the Community Needs Assessment, identify progress on each of the priorities, and discuss other issues which may have risen to the priority level within the community since the publication of the Community Needs Assessment. More than 20 people attended and participated in the discussion. Click here for a PDF file of a Powerpoint presentation which identifies an overview of the progress on each of the 11 priorities.
Update, 2/26/07: In keeping with the Act 53 action plan, NMC has facilitated a 2007 update of the Community Needs Assessment. Click here for a PDF file of that document. If you would like a hard copy of this report, please use the contact information above to request your copy.
| |