Haywood County Launches the Community Health Assessment Survey to Better Understand Resident Health, Opportunities for Improvement

Haywood County -- May 15, 2024: Press Release Haywood County Government Community News: Over the next few weeks,

the residents of Haywood County will play a crucial role in helping the Haywood County Health and Human Services Agency (Haywood HHSA) identify important health needs in our community and the surrounding area. We've partnered with the national research firm PRC based in Omaha, Nebraska, to conduct the Community Health Assessment (CHA) survey with western North Carolina (WNC) residents.  Calls have begun and will continue until a representative sample is available.  The anonymous survey will ask about residents' health, behaviors, and experiences. Randomly selected households will receive a call from “WNC Health”, and the survey is estimated to take around 20 minutes to complete.

Haywood County is one of eighteen counties participating in the CHA across (WNC). The survey covers various health-related factors, including demographics, socioeconomics, health status, disparities, behaviors, clinical care, physical environment, and quality of life. This data is the basis for our efforts to prioritize and address health challenges over the next three years.

Haywood County plays a vital role in the regional CHA strategy  which is led by the WNC Healthy Impact initiative, a collaborative endeavor involving hospitals, health departments, and dedicated partners committed to enhancing community health across the region. The Community Health Assessment is generously supported by the hospitals of western North Carolina and bolstered by contributions from The Dogwood Health Trust and aims to collect comprehensive data essential for understanding and addressing regional health challenges. The WNC Community Health Assessment survey, made possible through this collective funding, equips stakeholders, including our valued funders, healthy impact partners, and policymakers, with invaluable insights to guide targeted public health interventions for the betterment of residents across WNC.

Haywood County HHSA encourages all residents to take part. Dr. Sarah Banks, Public Health Services Director said, ‘’Our goal is to build a healthy and resilient community. The Community Health Assessment helps us determine the health status of the community, identifies resources needed to address health and social issues, and provides strategy to improve the health status of the community.’’

The insights from the survey will help us identify areas that need attention and guide efforts to improve services and support systems for the health of all Haywood County residents.

Residents can also contribute through an online survey option.  Banks added, "Residents of Haywood County can share their input by accessing the survey on our website or by clicking  www.prcsurvey.com/begin/WNC2024."

For Haywood County, the last community health assessment in 2021 helped highlight mental health needs, which helped access grant funds for a mental health communications campaign.    

For more information on Haywood County HHSA, visit https://www.haywoodcountync.gov/800/Health-Human-Services

*This project is made possible through the generous contributions of WNC Hospitals and The Dogwood Health Trust. Hospital partners include:

AdventHealth Hendersonville
Cherokee Indian Hospital
Erlanger Western Carolina Hospital
Harris Regional Hospital
Haywood Regional Medical Center
Mission Health
Rutherford Regional Health System
St. Luke’s Hospital
Swain Community Hospital
UNC Health Pardee