Health care to be scrutinized

The Coverdell Institute and the School of Health Sciences are conducting a survey to gather information for the Community Assessment Project: Adult Access to Health Care Services in Baldwin County.

“We are extremely pleased to be a part of this,” said Dr. Cheryl Kish, interim dean of the School of Health Sciences. “I think it is an important project and I think it exactly matches what we’re all about in this school.”

The survey, which started toward the end of March, will continue into the first couple of weeks in April. The questions cover the availability of all forms of healthcare-even dental care, fitness exercise, Medicare and Medicaid. The surveys will be administered at places like Wal-Mart, the Milledgeville mall, Lowe’s and various grocery stores.

“We are going to have nursing faculty, nursing students and some health promotion students actually giving the surveys,” Kish said. “So we are using it as a teaching opportunity
as well as a service opportunity.”

Gregg Kaufman, director of the Coverdell Institute, said the institute is happy to be involved in the project.

“The Coverdell Institute is lodged in academic affairs and we serve to promote civic engagement and help students, faculty and staff be active citizens by not only voting but making a difference in our communities,” said Gregg Kaufman, director of the Coverdell Institute.

Kaufman said that he and others through the Coverdell Institute worked with the Baldwin County Health Department to determine if this type of project would be beneficial to the public health community and the people of Baldwin County to ascertain the desired quality of healthcare.

After concluding that the survey would be beneficial, the institute compiled the survey.

“After a lot of helpful conversation among faculty and students in the School of Health Sciences and with community people, we came to the conclusion that the first survey should be something basic and ask questions about access to healthcare, and we are specifically interested in adults ranging from 18-65 years old,” Kaufman said.

Middle-aged adults are usually the caretakers for the young and the elderly, Kaufman said. Often their health takes the backseat to other members of the family who cannot take care of themselves. This survey is intended to help ensure that this age group receives needed healthcare.

Kish and Kaufman both said they hope to compile the information and have it presented to the public by the end of the semester.

“Data is very helpful in writing grant proposals to get funding for subsequent surveys,” Kaufman said. “We certainly hope that this basic survey will provide a channel for future surveys based on the findings of this survey.”

Sheryl Arrington of the Baldwin County Health Department said her department is also looking forward to the results of the survey.

“We will use the survey to measure healthcare accessibility in our community.”

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Apr 7 2006. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry