Last year, the Stark County Health Department implemented a community survey and focus group to 303 Stark County women between the ages of 18 to 44 years old. The goal of the community survey and focus group was to better understand doctor patient interaction, identify barriers to accessing care and gather information on experiences encountered within the healthcare system. Priority areas and strategies were developed by the Stark County Health Department to address the issues identified though the survey and focus group results. As a way to provide a learning opportunity to Stark County youth, the health department collaborated with MentorStark and Hoover High School on a research project to identify possible interventions to be implemented within the community to improve access to, delivery and/or quality of services provided to women.
“This collaboration helped to strengthen community relationships and exposed young adults to the field of public health,” said Director of Administration and Support Services Kay Conley, MPA, CHES. “The collaboration allowed heath department staff to focus efforts on connections within the community to gain interest in implementing the identified interventions and participate in additional cultural competence trainings.”
The Hoover Research Project was implemented over a span of eight weeks and included six high school juniors enrolled in the Biomedical Sciences Program. The collaboration with MentorStark and the Stark County Health Department allowed the students to obtain a portion the 250 work-based learning hours a state requirement the school needs to meet and enabled these young adults to better understand real-life health issues occurring within their community. The students also helped to identify the interventions to improve these issues. The project required students to research and identify best practice interventions to:
- Reduce Transportation Barriers
- Improve Patient Care Coordination
- Enhance Cultural Competence Awareness
The Stark County Health Department and MentorStark met with students weekly, on Sunday evenings, to discuss research results, address any barriers or concerns, and provide opportunities for local speakers to present on topic areas directly aligning to the research project.
“We were excited to facilitate this collaboration between the Stark County Health Department and Hoover High School and to bring a mentoring mindset into this workplace-based learning experience,” said Laurie Moline, Founder of MentorStark. “These are the kinds of innovative ways we can give our young people valuable “real world” experiences while benefiting from their skills and perspectives. MentorStark will continue to help these students explore careers and build connections up until graduation and beyond.”
Stark County Health Department is working on more plans to bring attention to the various issues discovered by the students and the survey/focus group respondents. In June of 2022, the health department also plans to implement a marketing campaign and launch a landing page containing available community resources. More information about the upcoming campaign will be posted on www.starkhealth.org and on the health department’s social media channels.
The Stark County Combined General Health District (Stark County Health Department) was founded in 1920 and is celebrating a century of health. The department is currently the ninth largest health district in the State of Ohio which serves the public health needs of over 250,000 people. The jurisdiction of the Stark County District is that of the 17 Townships, 12 Villages, and the cities of Louisville, North Canton, and Canal Fulton. The mission of the department is to assess, protect, promote, and improve the health of Stark County through leadership, quality service, and community partnerships.
Original source can be found here.
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