After months of data collection, the Clark County MAPP¿committee now has a better sense of what the major health concerns are locally.
“The community prioritized certain issues, based on what the data said. The next meeting will be to come up with goals and strategies,” Beth Willett, Clark County MAPP coordinator, said.
Clark County began MAPP (Mobilizing for Action through Planning and Partnerships) a year ago with the goal of improving the quality of life for all residents. There are six steps in the MAPP process:¿Organization, visioning, assessment, identifying strategic issues, goals/strategies and the action cycle. The process was created by the Centers for Disease Control and the National Association of County and City Health Officials as a way to help communities identify areas that need improvement, and create attainable goals.
The public was invited to a meeting Wednesday at the Clark County Extension Office to begin the fourth phase, identifying strategic issues. Willett said she and other MAPP participants have been collecting data since January, through public surveys, focus groups and community meetings. The survey results were revealed at the meeting.
Based on the data collected, Willett said committee members hope to develop plans for lowering rates of substance abuse, obesity, teen pregnancy and child abuse.
According to research conducted by the Clark County Health Department, Clark County has higher occurrences of pregnancy among girls 15-19 and more drug-related deaths than “peer counties” — communities with similar demographics. Willett said Clark County also has percentages higher than the national averages.
“No one is surprised about substance abuse, overweight, the teenage pregnancy,” Willett said.
Community members did seem surprised, however, that the 1,082 surveys collected identified child abuse as a significant problem in Clark County.
The next step will be creating goals and strategies, something Willett said she hopes will begin in January 2013. No date has been set for the next MAPP meeting, but any interested community members will be invited to participate.
“The next meeting is to come together and fine-tune these issues, and what we want to do in the next three to five years,” Willett said.
Once the goals are created, the action phase begins.
“It’s really a finale and a beginning,” Willett said.
MAPP¿is designed to be repeated every five years, as issues are improved and new issues take priority.
For more information on the MAPP¿process, contact Willett at 744-1488.
Contact Rachel Gilliam at rparsons@winchestersun.com.
