Purdue University North Central Community Health nursing students, under the direction of Peggy Rose, assistant professor of Nursing and Dr. Diane Spoljoric, interim Nursing Department chair, recently completed an individualized health assessment of 13 cities and towns in Lake, LaPorte Porter, Starke and St. Joseph counties.
Their findings will be presented in a public open house on Tuesday, April 29 from 8:30 a.m. to noon in the Library-Student-Faculty Building Assembly Hall, Room 02.
The students worked together to gather data from a variety of sources including United States Census Bureau, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Healthy People 2020, local schools and hospitals, state and local departments of health, town and city officials, businesses and industries and on-line sources.
The purposes of the data collection and subsequent assessments were to:
Examine the health needs of an identified community
Identify resources that exist to meet health needs
Identify community strengths and weaknesses
Investigate social and political forces that affect change in an identified community
Describe potential community health nursing diagnoses.
Lake County towns studied include Munster, Whiting and Merrillville. The La Porte County towns were LaPorte, Westville, Michigan City, LaCrosse and Hannah. Porter County included Hebron, Valparaiso and Portage. Starke County, Knox and St. Joseph County, South Bend.
This systematic, data-driven approach to determining the health status, behaviors and needs of residents in the region was based on 10 leading behavioral healthcare concerns - physical activity, overweight and obesity, tobacco use, substance abuse, responsible sexual behavior, mental health, injury and violence, environmental quality, immunizations and access to healthcare. The PNC students gathered data on these indicators, looking at trends from past to the present.
The community health assessments will provide information useful in determining strategies, formulating plans and establishing healthcare priorities to meet the needs of the populations in these communities.
Further information can be obtained by contacting Rose at 219-785-5706 or prose@pnc.edu.