Haywood County data collection project will help identify critical regional needs

Press release from the Haywood County Health and Human Services Agency: 

Over the next several weeks, residents in Haywood County will have the opportunity to help Haywood County Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA) identify the most critical health needs throughout our county and the region.

The national research firm PRC of Omaha, Nebraska, will conduct phone surveys with approximately 200 individuals in the area between March and June of this year. The confidential survey will ask questions about residents’ health status, behaviors and experiences. The households asked to participate will be selected at random, and the survey will take approximately 20 minutes to complete.

As the survey process begins, HHSA hopes area residents will take an active role.

“We really want to encourage everyone to participate if they’re called. This is the community’s opportunity to give us the information we need to address the health needs most important to our area,” said Megan Hauser, Public Health Education Supervisor.

“The results of the survey will help us understand where the greatest needs exist and identify ways to strengthen the services and support that improve health for all residents of Haywood County.”

Interested community members can give their input, even if they aren’t part of the random selection. The survey is available now atwww.prcsurvey.com/begin/WNC2021 and on the HHSA Facebook page.

Haywood County is part of a larger community health assessment and improvement effort taking place in the region called WNC Healthy Impact.  WNC Healthy Impact is a regional collaboration between hospitals, health departments and their partners working to improve community health. Watch a short video about Haywood County’s most recent CHA here:https://video214.com/play/fyohtUu11GjSPSKPKY409w/s/dark

Haywood County is one of eighteen counties involved in community health surveys that are underway across western North Carolina to gain better insight into the current health of the region. Data collected during the health assessment represents a broad look at health, including: demographics, socioeconomics, health status, health disparities, health behavior, clinical care, physical environment and quality of life.  This data helps us identify the health issues we will focus on addressing together over the next three years.

For Haywood County, the last community health assessment, completed in 2018, helped highlight barriers to receiving dental care. The Haywood County Dental Office was later awarded a grant to provide dental care to indigent individuals.