EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Vision Statement and Purpose

  This document serves as an ongoing commitment to addressing access to resources and health care, the education level achieved, and economic opportunity for residents in Alamance County which were identified by the community in 2015. All three priorities require systemic change to address. Systemic change is guided by an institution’s willingness to rigorous periodic review of policies, procedures, and institutional culture that creates barriers to the priorities a community seeks to address. This 2021 assessment reflects upon both the creation of processes to aid this review and challenges encountered during the last three years that illustrates the development of, and growing shared lens for, the role equity plays in determining the health of an individual and their community.

Leadership

  The theme of leadership for this assessment is the redefining of stakeholders and how residents and institutions work together to assess and address health. The partnerships below reflect an interactive process grounded in values and accountability.

Partnerships 

Parternships include: Public Health Agency, Hospital/Health Care System, Hospital/Public Health Nonprofit Agency, Local Health Foundation, Dental Health Provider, Community Organizations, Businesses, Educational Institutions, Public School System, Media/Communication Outlet, Public Members, Regional/contracted services - Piedmont Triad Regional Council, and Community Food Lab.

Theoretical Framework/Model

  The incorporation of a Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR) approach into the Community Health Assessment process allows partners to engage the community in meaningful conversations about health and better positions partners to address priorities.

Collaborative Process Summary

  Alamance County has a long history of collaboration between the health department and the hospital in developing a community assessment. Over the years, agencies and groups have joined the team, allowing for a cross-sectoral approach. The 2021 assessment process is Alamance County’s most collaborative process to date, building off the focus group findings from community residents in 2018 by conducting charrettes across four locations in Alamance County.

Methodology

A charrette is a tool as part of a community based participatory approach (CBPR) for aiding in the collection of primary data while creating space for mitigating conflict, resolution, and solution generation. To learn more about the charrette process, explore NCTracs.

Key findings

The following themes emerged from the charrettes:

Theme #1: Disconnection from resources

Theme #2: Disconnection among neighbors/Divided communities

Theme #3: Concern for young people

Theme #4: Safety

Theme #5: Infrastructure

Theme #6: Health

Health Priorities

  The 2021 priorities are access to care, education, economic issues

Next steps

  The Health Equity Collective will conduct a series of forums to bring participants together to explore these themes further and begin the process of creating solutions. These forums will focus on identifying who needs to hear this information and be a part of the planning to inform the Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP). 

Reading Guide

  This assessment is made up of eight chapters with relevant county information. Each chapter begins with a title page that contains an image of an Alamance County mural, key questions, and key words. Our goal as a CHA team is to make the reading experience for the reader as easy and as informative as possible. The murals resemble a small tour through the county, and we encourage you to visit the murals in person (addresses will be below each image). The key questions can help prime the reader to interpret key themes and topics before diving into the details. And the key words offer an insight into the specific content of the chapter. Each key word and definition can be found in the glossary.

The three priorities addressed in the Community Health Assessment for Alamance County are:

• Access to care
• Education
• Economy