Rowan County United Way 

SALISBURY — Rowan County United Way is beginning another countywide needs assessment.

The kick-off meeting was held April 20.

Board President Bill Burgin thanked the partners who are making the needs assessment possible through their funding. They include Novant Health Rowan County Medical Center, Rowan County Health Department, Healthy Rowan, Salisbury Community Foundation and Rowan County United Way.

The Gillings Institute of Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill will conduct the needs assessment.

Matt Simon and Erin Magee shared information about how the study will work. It will include door-to-door surveys, focus groups and other means to identify the most pressing needs in the county.

“Community health and human service needs assessments help communities be strategic rather than reactive in their pursuit of better health and human services,” Simon said.

A community opinion survey will collect primary data. All Rowan residents are eligible to be selected to participate.

There are about 50 questions on the survey. Trained interviewers will go door-to-door from May 10 to 12.

Collection and analysis of the data will take three months.

Focus group discussions will follow the survey with a minimum of 10 groups.

The assessment is designed to give a picture of the community’s health and ensure interventions are planned in a way to maximize community benefits.

“With the needs assessment, there is less duplication. Each agency involved has different policies and procedures they are required to follow,” said Nina Oliver, director of the Rowan County Health Department. “However, by forming a collaborative partnership to work on the needs assessment, we will be able to identify community barriers, which in turn will help us to formulate goals and objectives so we can remove these barriers and challenges. It is an excellent process, and we are excited to get started.”

For more information, email bob.lippard.uwrc@gmail.com.