Wellbeing (e.g. Youth, Community, Mental)
Sharing Session - 30 Minutes
Beth Kregenow, MHA, BS
Health Planning, Education, & Promotion Program Administrator
Florida Department of Health in Sarasota County
Aleksandra Fitzgibbons, RN, BSN, MHA
Health Program Educator
Florida Department of Health in Sarasota County
Amy Daneman, MPH, BS
Health Educator
Florida Department of Health in Sarasota County
The Florida Department of Health (DOH) in Sarasota County completed its most recent Community Health Assessment in 2015. Community Health Assessments are completed every three to five years as part of an ongoing effort to improve the health of Sarasota County residents. The assessment focused on the 10 essential public health services, including monitoring health status, identifying community health problems, and diagnosing problems and health hazards. The intent of the Community Health Assessment is to collect information from the residents of Sarasota, related to individual and community health. This information is then used to develop the Community Health Improvement Plan and DOH-Sarasota’s strategic plan for the following three years.
To follow the Mobilizing for Action through Planning and Partnerships process, as one of the assessments used to collect and analyze data, the survey model known as the Community Assessment for Public Health Emergency Response (CASPER) was used for the community themes and strengths assessment. The CASPER model is a Centers for Disease Control method used to quickly assess community needs, usually following a disaster. However, CASPER can also be used to determine health status and basic community needs. CASPER is administered through in-person, door-to-door interviews throughout 30 clusters or census blocks, utilizing a random sampling method to obtain seven surveys within each block. This sampling method is designed to obtain a representative sample at the county level, not solely for the census blocks surveyed. Using the CASPER methodology can provide an exciting new way to assess community health.