For more information on this project, contact Tim Zorros, Environmental Health Director or Larry Kearley, Social Work Services Manager at the Putnam County Health Department.
PUTNAM COUNTY HEALTH DEPARTMENT
March PACE EH Update
Putnam County Health
Department is still in the early stages of the PACE EH process. One of
the more significant challenges is unfilled Environmental Health
positions and subsequent increased workloads by the few remaining
inspectors. Environmental Health has been without a program director for
more than a year though it is anticipated the position will be filled in
the very near future. Though it is desirable and essential that the
Environmental Health Program component take an important role in
spearheading PACE EH, leadership for PACE EH in Putnam County is the
recognized as a primary responsibility of the Quality Improvement
Program. This perspective has enabled the Health Department to move
forward in many important areas in the PACE EH process in spite of an
absence of an Environmental Health Program Director and has placed
important responsibilities on the organization rather than one
department. One positive outcome of broad organizational leadership of
PACE EH has been increased awareness of the value of PACE EH to the
organization as a whole and an increased big picture view of PACE EH
through the QI committee. The Quality Improvement Committee, led by the
Health Department administrator, has placed significant importance on
obtaining organizational buy-in during the initial foundation building
stages of PACE EH. In order for PACE EH to achieve a systems level
impact, ownership for implementation and success must be shared by not
only Environmental Health but also other CHD programs that are actively
engaged in community-focused service planning. Presentations concerning
PACE EH have been made at Team Day which is conducted on the 2nd Friday
of each month and in the Nurses Department Team Meeting that occurs each
Friday from 8:30 am 9:30 am.
The pursuit of PACE EH is a natural evolutionary process for Putnam
County Health Departments Quality Improvement program since the model
provides support and direction for all opportunities for improvement
that were identified during the last Quality Improvement site visit.
Among these opportunities for improvement were the completion of a
community-based needs assessment and strategic planning process. The
advantage of a PACE EH process that is led by the QI committee is that
PACE EH is more focused on broad personal and community health issues
that are interwoven with environmental health issues.
During March, the PACE EH process has focused on the identification of
priority communities, public awareness, and encouraging interest in
participation in the Environmental Health Assessment Team.
The process of identifying the first target community was a result of
the work of the Chronic Disease Workgroup. The Chronic Disease
Workgroup, which was formed in July 2004 by the Health Department, is a
group of selected representatives from diverse organizations and groups
within the county who have specific experience in developing strategic
planning and intimate knowledge of how broad health issues interact to
define the health status of the community. Chronic Disease has become
somewhat of a misnomer since the group has evolved into a Community
Health Workgroup. Workgroup participants were selected based in part on
their history of working collaboratively with the Health Department and
each other on broad community health issues. Since its inception, the
Workgroup has reviewed and ranked priority health and environmental
health concerns, and since most participants have grant writing
experience, the group has actively supported the development funding
applications to address the priority concerns. The Workgroup has
supported applications to support PACE EH, breast cancer screening,
diabetes education/case management, domestic violence services, a sexual
assault hotline, and a WIC infrastructure application. In addition, the
Workgroup has provided consultation to the Health Department on the
unique issues and needs of Putnam County that will impact the PACE EH
process. Workgroup participants include Health Department
representatives, and representatives from the school system, minority
communities, school system, law enforcement, homeless coalition,
children and families service providers, substance abuse
prevention/treatment providers, Weed and Seed, migrant farmworker
services organization, health planning council, dental services,
domestic violence services, health services, cancer prevention, and
youth services.
During Februarys meeting, a county commissioner presented the Countys
Better Place Plan, a strategic plan that was adopted by voters that
addressed many environmental health and quality of life issues that are
integral to PACE EH process. This led to a decision to focus initial
PACE EH efforts on the North Palatka Weed and Seed site. North Palatka
Weed and Seed is a logical choice since the community has been
mobilized, there is broad support from local agencies in the process,
the group has completed a needs assessment and strategic planning
process. The Health Department has been actively involved in Weed and
Seed from the beginning and has assisted in preparing successful grants
that include Weed and Seed. These grant include an Abstinence Education
teen pregnancy prevention program; Family Planning Special Initiatives
for High Risk Teens; Juvenile Justice Title V/Title II Creating Lasting
Family Connections violence/substance abuse science-based prevention
program, and a Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention Grant for
science-based substance abuse early intervention.
Presentations regarding PACE EH were made to Weed and Seed in January,
the Putnam County Minority Coalition in February, the Lake Como American
Association of Retired Persons, and the Putnam County Anti-Drug
Coalition.
Also in March, the Putnam County Health Department QI Committee
developed plans to incorporate PACE EH into the upcoming Public Health
National Public Health Standards process. This process will evaluate the
public health systems in Putnam County and will be invaluable in gaining
commitments from key community stakeholders in the PACE EH process.
Submitted by:
Larry J. Kearley, LCSW, CAPP
Social Work Services Program Manager/QI Benchmarking Chair
PACE EH Coordinator
January, 2005
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