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Okaloosa
For more information on this project, contact Doug Sims, Environmental Health Director, or David Morris, PACE-EH Coordinator, at the Okaloosa County Health Department.
OKALOOSA COUNTY PACE-EH GRANT
PROJECT STATUS REPORT
June 2004
Under a grant from the National Association of County
and City Health Officials (NACCHO) and the Florida Department of
Health (DOH), Okaloosa County Health Department (OCHD) undertook
to perform a survey of environmental health concerns in the county.
The survey was intended to help identify what the environmental
health concerns were among residents and visitors and how those
concerns differed from the actual health issues as identified by
morbidity and mortality statistics as collected by state and national
health organizations.
Upon receiving approval for our project, we began
by establishing an internal and external steering committee to coordinate
the efforts of the survey. This committee initially consisted of
our Environmental Health Coordinator, The PIO/MAPP Coordinator,
our epidemiologist, and two environmental health technicians. We
included from outside the OCHD representatives from the Okaloosa
County Sheriffs office, the Tourist Development Council, Choctawatchee
Bay Alliance, the Economic Development Council, the Okaloosa County
Commission Office, and numerous community members representing various
ages, and backgrounds, and two interns from the University of West
Florida Environmental Sciences program.
The Steering Committee began meeting in February 2004
and has met every two to three weeks since. The first order of business
was to collect data based on reported mortality and morbidity statistics.
These data were presented to the steering committee during the first
meeting along with a presentation of what the study intended to
ascertain. Members were asked to go forth and come up with a list
of questions they would like to see answered as a result of the
survey. They were also asked to give thought to methodology for
administering the surveyto include what questions to ask, whom
to ask to answer them, and what analytic tool to use for determining
importance and/or relevance.
After much thought and several meetings, a decision
was made to contact the local group called Institute for Senior
Professionals (a group of retired business and government professionals)
to seek their advice on sampling issues. We were assigned a group
of three individuals, a physician, a military officer and former
city manager, and a federal government employee. These gentlemen
gave us the benefit of their experience, which included having conducted
similar surveys in their active professional lives and providing
a copy of a book, How to Conduct Your Own Survey by Salant and Dillman.
Their specific recommendations included:
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Conduct the survey using the guidelines contained
in How to Conduct Your Own Survey, including sample size, randomization,
etc.
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Make the survey a telephone survey for residents
and a pick up and return questionnaire for non-resident visitors
to the county
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Ensure that calls be identified as coming from
the Okaloosa County Health Department and that caller ID not
be blocked
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Provide advance public notice that the survey
is to be conducted by PSA, newspaper and television advertisement,
etc.
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Ensure that local police and governmental agencies
are aware that the survey is being conducted in case citizens
call to inquire about the legitimacy of the survey
The Steering Committee is currently doing the final
revision of the 15-20 questions we desire to have answered. Beginning
about mid-July 2004, volunteers and employees of the OCHD will conduct
the survey by telephone, questionnaires will be distributed through
the Tourist Development Council, and our in-house epidemiologist
will conduct analysis. We expect to conclude the survey by late
August 2004 and to be able to provide results by mid-October to
late November 2004.
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