Back to Annual Meeting

Back to Annual Meeting

Abstract #159656

• Slides (pdf) or Handout

Witold Migala, PhD, MPH¹, Dorian Villegas, DrPHc, MPH¹, Michael J. Kazda, MA¹, Barbara Murph, RN, MSN², and Susan Hurst, RN, BSN³. (1) Public Health Department/Epidemiology, City of Fort Worth, 1800 University Drive, Room 218, Fort Worth, TX 76107, 817-871-7362, Witold.Migala@fortworthgov.org, (2) Outreach Division, Public Health Department, City of Fort Worth 1800 University Drive, Fort Worth, TX 76107, 1800 University Drive, Fort Worth, TX 76107, Fort Worth, TX 76107, (3) Outreach Division, Fort Worth Public Health Department, 1800 University Drive, Fort Worth, TX 76107

The Fort Worth Public Health Department (FWPHD) received a grant from the National Organization of City and County Health Officials (NACCHO) to pilot a program integrating public health all-hazards preparedness and public health. The FWPHD used data collected from a massive community needs assessment conducted by the department's Epidemiology and Assessment Division to identify non-English speaking Hispanics concentrated in a specific area of the city as having little or no exposure to emergency preparedness education and no knowledge of where to find information. Cross-tabulation of this population also indicated that they were uninformed and underserved regarding a wide variety of health and social services. A multidisciplinary stakeholders focus group was organized representing 43 organizations, including health and social service organizations, financial institutions, primary care facilities, immigration assistance centers, and outreach programs in the local area. Pursuant to this meeting, a questionnaire was developed to query the local target population about their level of emergency preparedness, health priorities and needed services. Extensive organization of participating agencies and local, mostly non-English speaking, community members by the CFWPHD Outreach Division was pursued to introduce the program to the community. A community luncheon was held to inaugurate the program which allowed community members direct access to the various participating agencies and organizations while also promoting an exchange of information between service providers. A follow-up survey of participants indicated a significant impact on the participants in accessing information about emergency preparedness and other needed health and social services.

Learning Objectives:

• 1. Articulate the use of public health methods to identify educational priorities as perceived by the community in constructing the components of an effective educational program.
• 2. Describe the use of Community Needs Assessment (CNA) data to identify specific un-served, underserved and high risk populations in regards to all-hazards educational efforts.
• 3. Analyze and evaluate efficacy of educational efforts based on race, ethnicity and geography (GIS) to help eliminate disparities.
• 4. Discuss the use of public health methods to drive development of culturally and linguistically appropriate interventions.
• 5. Develop CNA and other analytical instruments to recognize the special needs of the local population and target interventions to yield optimum participation by the general public in response to public health emergencies.

Keywords: Community Response, Health Disparities

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No
Any institutionally-contracted trials related to this submission?

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

• Slides (pdf) or Handout