by QUAD CITIES, Iowa/Ill. (KWQC) – Community members are invited to provide feedback and participate in partnerships that promote the health of the Quad Cities.
The 2024 Community Health Assessment is a data-driven approach to determining the health status, behaviors and needs of residents in the Quad Cities area, according to a news release.
The study was sponsored by Community Health Care, Inc., MercyOne Genesis, Quad City Health Initiative, Rock Island County Health Department, Scott County Health Department, Trinity Muscatine Public Health and UnityPoint Health – Trinity, the news release said.
The research follows on from similar studies conducted since 2002 and builds on a long history of collaboration.
The report’s data sources include telephone and Internet surveys, area focus groups and secondary data.
“Our collaborative health assessment process is the foundation for improving community health,” said Nicole Carkner, Executive Director of the Quad City Health Initiative (QCHI). “The new report will help us understand priority health issues based on information from community residents and develop plans that help address these issues. We invite all organizations in our community to join us in advancing the health of Quad-Citians.”
The report highlighted improvements over time, such as fewer Quad-Citians are unemployed, more have dental insurance and cancer death rates have declined, the news release said.
The Quad Cities area also fares better than the national average on select indicators, including the percentage of adults who have had a stroke, the percentage who are food insecure and the percentage who had a routine checkup in the past year, the news release said. .
Additionally, the news release said the assessment identified “opportunity areas” for Scott County and Muscatine County, Iowa and Rock Island County, Illinois.
“Initial conversations with community stakeholders have confirmed interest in three areas currently addressed in the province’s health improvement plans: mental health; access to healthcare; and nutrition, physical activity and weight,” said George Verástegui, administrator of the Rock Island County Health Department.
“We will work closely with the Community Stakeholder Committees formed in the Quad Cities and in Muscatine to help us determine how we can make an impact,” said Jennifer Craft, director of public health, Trinity Muscatine Public Health.
“Since the 2021 assessment, health partners have taken action on these priority health issues,” said Pamela Samuelson, director of business planning and development at UnityPoint Health – Trinity. “We expect this new data will lead to new ideas for programs and community outreach.”
Partners are also currently supporting existing community coalitions formed to address priority health areas, such as the Be Healthy QC Coalition, the Quad Cities Behavioral Health Coalition, and the Access to Care Workgroup.
“Our health is affected by economic disparities and inequities where people are born, live, work, play, worship and grow older,” said Brooke Barnes, deputy director of the Scott County Health Department. “Our challenge is to address the broad community conditions that contribute to poor health in our area by working together across sectors,” Barnes said.
“The joint community health assessment process and our community coalition work recognize the important role all sectors play,” said Tom Bowman, CEO of Community Health Care, Inc.
With funding from MercyOne Genesis and UnityPoint Health – Trinity, the partners hired professional research consultants from Omaha, Nebraska to conduct a study, analyze data and provide a comprehensive report, the press release said.
The 2024 Community Health Assessment included a community survey of 1,150 individuals in Scott, Rock Island and Muscatine counties, extensive secondary data analysis and gathering input from local community members in focus groups held in the counties, the news release said.
The qualitative data was collected by the study sponsors in collaboration with members of the Community Stakeholder Committee and other community partners, the news release said.
The integrated process utilized best practices in assessment methodology and the survey was designed to provide comparative data at the state and national level.
“We are proud to sponsor this assessment and hope this report will be a resource for many local organizations,” said Ameya Kotwal, business development specialist at MercyOne Genesis. “We invite community feedback and encourage conversations about how we can improve health together.”
Representatives from the community health assessment partner organizations are available to answer questions, the news release said.
Community members are invited to provide feedback on the assessment report via a survey at quadcities.healthforecast.net.
Organizations and individuals interested in participating in community coalition efforts can contact the Quad City Health Initiative at 563-421-2815.
Copyright 2024 KWQC. All rights reserved.
