Community Health: The Importance of Making Your Voice Heard
Dr. Sheila Davies and Amy Montgomery FACHE discuss the importance of using your voice within a community.
Featured Speakers:
Amy Montgomery holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Nutrition and Dietetics and a Master’s Degree in Health Promotion from East Carolina University. Formerly the hospital’s director of community outreach, Montgomery accepted the senior administrator of operations role in 2015. Montgomery is a fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives. She is an established leader in our community. As the health education supervisor for the Dare County Department of Public Health, Montgomery started the Miles of Smiles Mobile Dental Unit and the Peer Power Program. She also led the first Community Health Assessment for Dare County. She was a key member of the committee that started the Outer Banks Marathon and Outer Banks Sporting Events, as part of her seven-year tenure as the executive director of the Dare Education Foundation. She serves on the Boards of Directors for Children and Youth Partnership for Dare County, Outer Banks Relief Foundation and Outer Banks Sporting Events.
Sheila Davies, PhD | Amy Montgomery, FACHE
Sheila Davies, PhD is the Director, Dare County Health and Human Services.Amy Montgomery holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Nutrition and Dietetics and a Master’s Degree in Health Promotion from East Carolina University. Formerly the hospital’s director of community outreach, Montgomery accepted the senior administrator of operations role in 2015. Montgomery is a fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives. She is an established leader in our community. As the health education supervisor for the Dare County Department of Public Health, Montgomery started the Miles of Smiles Mobile Dental Unit and the Peer Power Program. She also led the first Community Health Assessment for Dare County. She was a key member of the committee that started the Outer Banks Marathon and Outer Banks Sporting Events, as part of her seven-year tenure as the executive director of the Dare Education Foundation. She serves on the Boards of Directors for Children and Youth Partnership for Dare County, Outer Banks Relief Foundation and Outer Banks Sporting Events.
Transcription:
Community Health: The Importance of Making Your Voice Heard
Evo Terra (Host): . Welcome to Outer Banks Health. I'm your host Evo Terra. Today, I'm here with Amy Montgomery, Senior Administrator of Operations at the Outer Banks Hospital, and Sheila Davies Director of the Dare County Department of Health and Human Services Public Health Division. Today, we're talking to you about the importance of making your voice heard through the community health needs assessment. Amy, Sheila, welcome.
Amy Montgomery, FACHE (Guest): Thank
Sheila Davies, PhD (Guest): you
Amy Montgomery, FACHE (Guest): You're welcome.
Host: So, let's begin. At the beginning, what is the purpose of a community health needs assessment?
Sheila Davies, PhD (Guest): A community health needs assessment is a process where we evaluate the health status of our community. We analyze different data. We use a secondary data and primary data and focus groups to gather information to help us examine what our strengths are when it comes to the community health, where there's opportunities for improvement and where there's gaps in services. And it's a great tool for us to then examine where we need to focus our efforts and priorities so we can continue to improve population health.
Host: And as I understand it, this is a joint effort between the hospital and the health department. So, who is in charge of this, this, community health needs assessment survey?
Amy Montgomery, FACHE (Guest): Well, as you might imagine, it's a pretty broad topic. And we include a lot of stakeholders when we collect data and really assess the community's health status. And so I would say that the Dare County Department of Health and Human Services and the Outer Banks Hospital partner to facilitate and lead the community health needs assessment, and the community being involved and really providing input, including many, many stakeholders is really key to a successful assessment.
The Outer Banks Hospital hasn't always been involved in the community health needs assessment. I know that Sheila would agree. Community health assessment is an essential public health function that really has historically always been led by a local public health department or a public health agency. And the first Dare County health assessment was conducted in 2002. And then in 2013, the IRS actually required hospitals or nonprofit hospitals which the Outer Banks Hospital is a nonprofit hospital, to also conduct community health needs assessment and very quickly, Sheila agreed to partner with the hospital. It was our very first time doing it back in 2013, conducting the assessment. And we have partnered ever since our very first time the hospital was required to be involved.
And it's just been really successful ever since that time that we've been involved. I would add that I think that the partnership is, is pretty unique across the state. Not all hospitals and health departments partner to complete this. But I think that the fact that we do, has really enabled a lot of other partnerships that have benefited the community. So many things, including our recent response to COVID-19 and the partnerships that have really helped our community.
Host: Yeah, that's good. Let's get into the community benefit because a community health needs assessment benefits the community and it shows the need to make some changes. So, let's talk about those changes and specifically how we start to implement the changes we learn from this assessment into our community.
Sheila: So, I'm just going to expand a little bit on what Amy was just sharing because we are so fortunate in Dare County to be blessed by the strength of our partnerships and the partnership between the Outer Banks Hospital and the Dare County Health Department is just one of those. But as you work through the community health needs assessment, we work with additional partners. They're members of our Healthy Carolinians of the Outer Banks Partnership that includes non-profit groups, other community agencies, government agencies, and just key stakeholders in the community who help us evaluate the data and then create the priorities based on the data. So, it's a data-driven process. And then we narrow down, based on input and feedback from these key stakeholders and partners, what are we going to focus on over those next three years to hopefully move the needle in some of the areas where we have an opportunity to improve.
Host: Let's switch to timeline for a moment because you mentioned three years. So, let's for the people who are unfamiliar with the process, kind of start to finish. Where are we in the timeline right now? And I guess what I really want to get to is when are we going to find out the results?
Amy: We are currently conducting the community health survey and that is a link that is really easy to access and we can provide that information for our listeners, but there's a link that is easily accessible. And then there's some questions that take about five minutes to complete. And we are really casting a wide net and trying to get just as many individuals in our community to complete the survey. We really are trying to accomplish this because we want a representative sample. We need folks from all walks of life in our community to provide their opinion and their information so we can really get a great snapshot of the current status of health issues in our community and what those opportunities are. And then, that survey is open until June 18th. And once the survey closes, Healthy Carolinians of the Outer Banks will turn their attention to really looking at what data is available; that data, that Sheila was referencing, health statistics that we collect, that are available through state and federal sources, data that we have available here through the hospital and the health department, all types of data that's available to us.
And then we combine what we've learned from the community through the survey and the available data and we bring all of that together in December and our local group Healthy Carolinians of the Outer Banks goes through a prioritization exercise. Really looks closely at the data we have collected and then prioritizes and identifies not only our opportunities, but also our strengths, because it's equally as important to celebrate the things that we are doing well in our community.
I can give you an example of that. Something that often floats to the top of our assessment is that this is a safe community and a great community to raise children. So, that's something that's often a highlight. And then we also prioritize the opportunities. What are some things that we can work on to enhance health and quality of life for individuals in our community? And so once that prioritization is complete, then the group works to develop what's called the Community Health Improvement Plan. And so soon after the holidays are over and we begin the new year, which will be 2022, the community should expect to hear a report of the results.
Host: Sheila, a question for you regarding the thing that's been around us all for the last 15 months, cOVID-19. Clearly it's an unusual event, hopefully once in a generation. What are we anticipating the changes COVID-19 how it's going to affect the data that we are capturing with the needs assessment.
Sheila: The first thing I'd like to stress about that is we want to make sure that the ability for folks to give us their input by participating in the survey is not hindered by COVID-19. So, Amy mentioned that the survey is easily accessible online. You can either go to the Dare County website or to the Outer Banks Hospital's website and access that survey. And so, we just can't stress enough how important it is for folks to engage. And they don't have to go pick up a copy at the library or something like that. They can do it all online. And then if they want to, for whatever reason, if they can't access it online, they could call our office and we can facilitate getting a copy or working with them to get a copy completed so.
They did add this year, to the survey some questions very specific to COVID and how it's impacted folks over the past year. So, that's in addition to the normal survey questions. So, it will be interesting what some of the key takeaways will be from the public. Again, we just really can't over encourage the public to participate for us so we can get that important feedback. And I think, you know, oftentimes when you say, oh, that's another survey, why should I participate? I'm gonna take an opportunity if you don't mind, to share what some of the amazing things have come historically out of this community health needs assessment process, and then the prioritization process.
So, in Dare County, I mean, some of the really amazing nonprofit work that's going on now actually had its foundational roots through this community health needs assessment process. So, whether it's the free clinic that's here, the substance abuse work. A lot of the substance abuse work, whether it's happening in the schools or the Coalition Against Substance Abuse. There's foundational projects and programs and non-profits started by being identified as a need in the community health needs assessment. Another project is we installed larger mile marker signs. If you travel to the Outer Banks and you're here on vacation, you know what those mean? It's kind of like everything is marked by a mile marker sign.
That's your point of reference. And they used to be really small and we had car accidents associated with folks slowing down to try to read the signs. And so something that came out of this group was the work to expand those signs, to make them more visible to hopefully reduce some of these traffic accidents that were occurring. Amy, you probably have things you can add to that list as well, but I just wanted to stress, you know, people's input really makes a difference when we go to the prioritization process.
Amy: I love that example, Sheila. I remember when we were doing the work around vehicle injuries. Another thing that comes out of this work sometimes is dispelling myths. There was a longstanding community myth or maybe misperception, I should say that most of the fatal motor vehicle injuries occurred during the season when we have all the traffic here from our visitors. But what we learned by really digging into the data, was that most of our serious fatal accidents occur off season, because there's not as much traffic on our roads and people can travel at higher rates of speed. And so it's those types of things that we learned that we can then educate the community. And also add some mitigating factors. I think the mile marker signs are a great example of just something really impactful that came from the survey. I also love that what we can dig in and learn and then educate the community when we find out new information,
Host: And it sounds like that getting as many people to fill out the survey as possible is going to lead to positive outcomes, just like that. So, again, lots of places you can get it, but here's one, I'll give you
Evo Terra (Host): the obh.com/c H N a.
Host: You fill out the survey right now. Amy, Sheila, thank you very much for your time today,
Amy: Thank you.
Evo Terra (Host): Thanks once again, to Amy Montgomery and Sheila Davies for discussing the community health needs assessment with us today, please do your part and complete the survey by visiting the obh.com/c H N a. For questions. Call us at (252) 449-4500. And thank you for listening to outer banks health. I am Evo Terra.
If you found this podcast helpful, please share it on your social channels and check out the entire podcast library for additional topics of interest.
Community Health: The Importance of Making Your Voice Heard
Evo Terra (Host): . Welcome to Outer Banks Health. I'm your host Evo Terra. Today, I'm here with Amy Montgomery, Senior Administrator of Operations at the Outer Banks Hospital, and Sheila Davies Director of the Dare County Department of Health and Human Services Public Health Division. Today, we're talking to you about the importance of making your voice heard through the community health needs assessment. Amy, Sheila, welcome.
Amy Montgomery, FACHE (Guest): Thank
Sheila Davies, PhD (Guest): you
Amy Montgomery, FACHE (Guest): You're welcome.
Host: So, let's begin. At the beginning, what is the purpose of a community health needs assessment?
Sheila Davies, PhD (Guest): A community health needs assessment is a process where we evaluate the health status of our community. We analyze different data. We use a secondary data and primary data and focus groups to gather information to help us examine what our strengths are when it comes to the community health, where there's opportunities for improvement and where there's gaps in services. And it's a great tool for us to then examine where we need to focus our efforts and priorities so we can continue to improve population health.
Host: And as I understand it, this is a joint effort between the hospital and the health department. So, who is in charge of this, this, community health needs assessment survey?
Amy Montgomery, FACHE (Guest): Well, as you might imagine, it's a pretty broad topic. And we include a lot of stakeholders when we collect data and really assess the community's health status. And so I would say that the Dare County Department of Health and Human Services and the Outer Banks Hospital partner to facilitate and lead the community health needs assessment, and the community being involved and really providing input, including many, many stakeholders is really key to a successful assessment.
The Outer Banks Hospital hasn't always been involved in the community health needs assessment. I know that Sheila would agree. Community health assessment is an essential public health function that really has historically always been led by a local public health department or a public health agency. And the first Dare County health assessment was conducted in 2002. And then in 2013, the IRS actually required hospitals or nonprofit hospitals which the Outer Banks Hospital is a nonprofit hospital, to also conduct community health needs assessment and very quickly, Sheila agreed to partner with the hospital. It was our very first time doing it back in 2013, conducting the assessment. And we have partnered ever since our very first time the hospital was required to be involved.
And it's just been really successful ever since that time that we've been involved. I would add that I think that the partnership is, is pretty unique across the state. Not all hospitals and health departments partner to complete this. But I think that the fact that we do, has really enabled a lot of other partnerships that have benefited the community. So many things, including our recent response to COVID-19 and the partnerships that have really helped our community.
Host: Yeah, that's good. Let's get into the community benefit because a community health needs assessment benefits the community and it shows the need to make some changes. So, let's talk about those changes and specifically how we start to implement the changes we learn from this assessment into our community.
Sheila: So, I'm just going to expand a little bit on what Amy was just sharing because we are so fortunate in Dare County to be blessed by the strength of our partnerships and the partnership between the Outer Banks Hospital and the Dare County Health Department is just one of those. But as you work through the community health needs assessment, we work with additional partners. They're members of our Healthy Carolinians of the Outer Banks Partnership that includes non-profit groups, other community agencies, government agencies, and just key stakeholders in the community who help us evaluate the data and then create the priorities based on the data. So, it's a data-driven process. And then we narrow down, based on input and feedback from these key stakeholders and partners, what are we going to focus on over those next three years to hopefully move the needle in some of the areas where we have an opportunity to improve.
Host: Let's switch to timeline for a moment because you mentioned three years. So, let's for the people who are unfamiliar with the process, kind of start to finish. Where are we in the timeline right now? And I guess what I really want to get to is when are we going to find out the results?
Amy: We are currently conducting the community health survey and that is a link that is really easy to access and we can provide that information for our listeners, but there's a link that is easily accessible. And then there's some questions that take about five minutes to complete. And we are really casting a wide net and trying to get just as many individuals in our community to complete the survey. We really are trying to accomplish this because we want a representative sample. We need folks from all walks of life in our community to provide their opinion and their information so we can really get a great snapshot of the current status of health issues in our community and what those opportunities are. And then, that survey is open until June 18th. And once the survey closes, Healthy Carolinians of the Outer Banks will turn their attention to really looking at what data is available; that data, that Sheila was referencing, health statistics that we collect, that are available through state and federal sources, data that we have available here through the hospital and the health department, all types of data that's available to us.
And then we combine what we've learned from the community through the survey and the available data and we bring all of that together in December and our local group Healthy Carolinians of the Outer Banks goes through a prioritization exercise. Really looks closely at the data we have collected and then prioritizes and identifies not only our opportunities, but also our strengths, because it's equally as important to celebrate the things that we are doing well in our community.
I can give you an example of that. Something that often floats to the top of our assessment is that this is a safe community and a great community to raise children. So, that's something that's often a highlight. And then we also prioritize the opportunities. What are some things that we can work on to enhance health and quality of life for individuals in our community? And so once that prioritization is complete, then the group works to develop what's called the Community Health Improvement Plan. And so soon after the holidays are over and we begin the new year, which will be 2022, the community should expect to hear a report of the results.
Host: Sheila, a question for you regarding the thing that's been around us all for the last 15 months, cOVID-19. Clearly it's an unusual event, hopefully once in a generation. What are we anticipating the changes COVID-19 how it's going to affect the data that we are capturing with the needs assessment.
Sheila: The first thing I'd like to stress about that is we want to make sure that the ability for folks to give us their input by participating in the survey is not hindered by COVID-19. So, Amy mentioned that the survey is easily accessible online. You can either go to the Dare County website or to the Outer Banks Hospital's website and access that survey. And so, we just can't stress enough how important it is for folks to engage. And they don't have to go pick up a copy at the library or something like that. They can do it all online. And then if they want to, for whatever reason, if they can't access it online, they could call our office and we can facilitate getting a copy or working with them to get a copy completed so.
They did add this year, to the survey some questions very specific to COVID and how it's impacted folks over the past year. So, that's in addition to the normal survey questions. So, it will be interesting what some of the key takeaways will be from the public. Again, we just really can't over encourage the public to participate for us so we can get that important feedback. And I think, you know, oftentimes when you say, oh, that's another survey, why should I participate? I'm gonna take an opportunity if you don't mind, to share what some of the amazing things have come historically out of this community health needs assessment process, and then the prioritization process.
So, in Dare County, I mean, some of the really amazing nonprofit work that's going on now actually had its foundational roots through this community health needs assessment process. So, whether it's the free clinic that's here, the substance abuse work. A lot of the substance abuse work, whether it's happening in the schools or the Coalition Against Substance Abuse. There's foundational projects and programs and non-profits started by being identified as a need in the community health needs assessment. Another project is we installed larger mile marker signs. If you travel to the Outer Banks and you're here on vacation, you know what those mean? It's kind of like everything is marked by a mile marker sign.
That's your point of reference. And they used to be really small and we had car accidents associated with folks slowing down to try to read the signs. And so something that came out of this group was the work to expand those signs, to make them more visible to hopefully reduce some of these traffic accidents that were occurring. Amy, you probably have things you can add to that list as well, but I just wanted to stress, you know, people's input really makes a difference when we go to the prioritization process.
Amy: I love that example, Sheila. I remember when we were doing the work around vehicle injuries. Another thing that comes out of this work sometimes is dispelling myths. There was a longstanding community myth or maybe misperception, I should say that most of the fatal motor vehicle injuries occurred during the season when we have all the traffic here from our visitors. But what we learned by really digging into the data, was that most of our serious fatal accidents occur off season, because there's not as much traffic on our roads and people can travel at higher rates of speed. And so it's those types of things that we learned that we can then educate the community. And also add some mitigating factors. I think the mile marker signs are a great example of just something really impactful that came from the survey. I also love that what we can dig in and learn and then educate the community when we find out new information,
Host: And it sounds like that getting as many people to fill out the survey as possible is going to lead to positive outcomes, just like that. So, again, lots of places you can get it, but here's one, I'll give you
Evo Terra (Host): the obh.com/c H N a.
Host: You fill out the survey right now. Amy, Sheila, thank you very much for your time today,
Amy: Thank you.
Evo Terra (Host): Thanks once again, to Amy Montgomery and Sheila Davies for discussing the community health needs assessment with us today, please do your part and complete the survey by visiting the obh.com/c H N a. For questions. Call us at (252) 449-4500. And thank you for listening to outer banks health. I am Evo Terra.
If you found this podcast helpful, please share it on your social channels and check out the entire podcast library for additional topics of interest.