Stutsman County health concerns: Committee looks at top issues for residents as part of health improvement plan

Distracted driving, drinking and driving as well as issues concerning young people are among the top health concerns of Stutsman County residents, according to a recent community survey.

The Community Health Assessment Committee for Stutsman County unveiled the survey results at a public meeting Monday, detailing the health issues that Stutsman County community members are most concerned about.

The five issues that garnered the highest amounts of concern, known as “very concerned” and “concerned” in this particular survey were:

1. distracted driving

2. youth alcohol use/abuse

3. drinking and driving

4. youth suicide

5. youth obesity.

“Our mission is to provide effective, quality health services to enable community members to reach their full health potential through assessment, leadership and partnerships,” said Robin Iszler, unit administrator with Central Valley Health District of Jamestown and CHA Committee member.

The Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP) survey, conducted via telephone by Winkelman Consulting, randomly interviewed 400 Stutsman County residents (roughly 3 percent of the population) regarding seven broad topics including: diet and exercise, alcohol use, sexual activity, access to care, education and employment, family and social support in addition to community safety.

Under the umbrella of each topic were specific issues, for which the interviewees expressed varying levels of concern for within the Stutsman County community.

Other specific issues that were in the top 10 included availability of good jobs, families with kids being able to afford what they need, youth prescription drug use, senior citizens being able to afford what they need and teen pregnancy.

The results were presented to nearly 50 people Monday, including community members and representatives from local health agencies that have been working with the committee.

“We’re here to work together to be the healthiest community in which to live, learn, work and play,” said Tami Dillman, finance manager at CVHD and a CHA Committee member. “We want to get more community feedback. We need to get our community more engaged in this process.”

The committee’s job now is to streamline the top areas of concern into what Dillman called “three to five focus areas that we’re really going to hone in on as a community.”

Dillman said these types of survey results and input from community members will only help advance the care that is already being provided locally.

“We have a lot of good work and good care going on in the community already,” Dillman said.

The next phase of the committee’s plan is to continue with receiving additional survey results to bolster the amount of community feedback. They will do this by offering the CHIP survey via Smart Phone, online and in paper version at three local agencies — CVHD, South Central Human Service Center and James River Senior and Community Center.

“We’ve already had positive response from those who have seen the work we’re doing,” Dillman said. “We hope for at least 400 more responses to the survey.”

The CHIP survey is available online now at www.centralvalleyhealth.org/CHIPSurvey and will continue to be available through mid-August.

The committee will hold another meeting on Sept. 20 to begin narrowing down the additional survey data, with hopes that by the end of its Sept. 27 meeting that it will have a list of the three to five most important health focus areas in Stutsman County.

For more information on the telephone survey results presented Monday or on the CHA Committee’s project, visit www.centralvalleyhealth.org/HealthImprovement.htm.

Sun reporter Brian Willhide can be reached at 701-952-8454 or by email at bwillhide@jamestownsun.com

Tags: life, health