Health Committee
HEALTH COMMITTEE
CHAIRPERSON: Daniel Roberts, Sandhills Medical Foundation (803-669-3461)
MEETING: The Committee meets on the second Wednesday of each month at 1:00 p.m. in the DSS Training Room in Chesterfield.
GOAL: The mission of this Committee is to research and address issues in the public health system in the county. The vision for the 2015 countywide community engagement assessment is to use the results to facilitate the best possible healthcare, preventive, and behavioral outcomes in Chesterfield County. Priorities affirmed in 2017 include increasing physical activity and healthy nutrition, obesity and chronic disease prevention, and increasing health equity.
ACTIVITIES: The all-volunteer Committee has published a countywide community engagement assessment. Over 1300 surveys were collected around the county beginning in 2014. A focus group was held in McBee in the Fall, 2014 and a countywide Forces of Change meeting was held in July, 2015. The data and reports were presented at the 11/2015 CCCC meeting and are being used by the CCCC and its member agencies to identify needs, write grants, and other activities to improve the quality of life in Chesterfield County. Results were presented also to seven town councils and County Council. The committee is working currently to partner with industries and other employers to increase the opportunities for wellness through the workplace. Plans are to expand this effort to the faith based community.
In 2017, the Wellness Directory was developed and published to increase the awareness of services and locations in the county for families to be physically active and access information about healthy nutrition. It is a subset and expansion of the general services Resource Directory maintained by the CCCC. Committee members continue to distribute the Wellness Directory through library branches, their offices, employee breakrooms, beauty/barber shops, etc.
Over several years, the CCCC Health Committee has implemented and evaluated several projects to increase physical activity and healthy nutrition which are the key to reducing many chronic diseases that plague county citizens. Throughout 2008, the JumpStart to Good Health project worked with children, child care centers, and the community at large to prevent childhood obesity. Significant improvements were made on several measures and the Committee hopes to replicate the project. This Committee produced a local conference - A Taste of Health: A Community Conference about Living Better in September, 2009. The need for this conference was recognized through the Committee’s prior work with Voices of the Community (2002) and Grocery Gap (2008). Wise Walkers, a partnership between the Committee and Long Middle School in 2011, provided pedometers for a walking challenge among the 6-8 graders in PE. Due to the effective program with the students, 25 teachers participated and competed against each other. After members were instrumental in creation of the regional Northeastern Rural Health Network, the CCCC Health Committee took a hiatus between 2011 and 2014.
PARTICIPATING AGENCIES INCLUDE:
CareSouth Carolina, Inc.
Chesterfield/Marlboro Headstart
Chesterfield Family YMCA
Pee Dee Health Region, SC DHEC
Pee Dee Healthy Start
Mercy In Me Free Medical Clinic
McLeod Health - Cheraw
Northeastern Rural Health Network
Pageland Seventh Day Adventist Church & other faith based organizations
Sandhills Medical Foundation
Several hospice organizations
The Link
Welvista
Working Well & other state level entities
HEALTH COMMITTEE ACTIVITY TIMELINE
Purpose: create list of projects and accomplishments by the CCCC Health Committee as a baseline for explaining to potential funders what we have done as an indication of our ability to implement future projects. This Committee has taken a very grassroots approach to addressing issues.
ACTIVITY/ACCOMPLISHMENT TIMELINE
Wellness Directory: Developed by the Committee members as an extension of the overall services Resource Directory maintained by the CCCC, the Wellness Directory helps citizens know where to obtain healthcare and wellness services and locations where they can be physically active. Committee members are distributing the Directory through their lobby, the public libraries, beauty/barber shops and other places that citizens live, work, and pray.
Community Engagement Assessment – 2014 to present; see community report. Written surveys were collected around the county. A focus group was held in McBee in the Fall, 2014 and a countywide Forces of Change meeting was held in July, 2015. The data and reports were presented at the 11/2015 CCCC meeting and are being used by the CCCC and its member agencies to identify needs, write grants, and other activities to improve the quality of life in Chesterfield County. Results were also presented to each town and county council.
Wise Walkers: March - April, 2011, A partnership between the Subcommittee and Long Middle School to provide pedometers to the 6-8 graders in PE. The students competed for simple prizes to increase their level of physical activity. Feedback was very positive from the students and faculty. Due to the program with the students, 25 teachers participated and competed against each other.
Make A Move Project: February – December, 2010, A partnership with the CCCC Youth Development Coalition on a March of Dimes funded grant to reduce the repeat pregnancy rate by providing educational services to pregnant and parenting teens.
A Taste of Health: A Community Conference about Living Better in September, 2009. The workshops were designed to increase participants’ nutrition and physical activity skills to prevent obesity. The need for this conference was recognized through the Committee’s prior work with Voices of the Community and Grocery Gap.
Grocery Gap: Research (in summer of 2008) by Subcommittee interns indicates that a typical family receiving food stamps cannot afford to eat a menu based on accepted good nutrition guidelines. A recipe book with menu planning and budgeting tools is being developed. A list of food distribution centers, food banks, and soup kitchens throughout the county was developed and is updated and distributed at least quarterly.
JumpStart to Good Health: Jan-Dec of 2008; a project to prevent childhood obesity. The Subcommittee worked intensively with four child care centers to increase nutrition and physical activity. Interventions targeted the children, child care centers and community at large. Significant improvements were made on several measures.
Beginning in 11/2006, members were also instrumental in developing the Northeastern Rural Health Network that focuses on primary & behavioral health care issues in Chesterfield, Marlboro and Dillon Counties. Members of the Subcommittee were instrumental in helping to develop and implement Pioneering Healthier Communities with the towns of Darlington and Hartsville in partnership with the YMCA of America beginning in 2007. The CCCC Health Subcommittee helped to build recognition of the need and the capacity for both of these organizations to be created. Many of the agencies represented on the CCCC Health Subcommittee serve all four counties.
Each year in 2004-2006, the Subcommittee partnered with local churches to produce the Interfaith Health conference. The purpose of the conference was to increase the number and quality of health ministries by promoting those that are working and providing education on how to start and maintain an effective health program in the faith community. All aspects of producing a conference including a written evaluation were part of this initiative. Since these conferences, the Subcommittee has maintained contact with many of the churches in the county. Subcommittee members stay aware of and help promote and enhance the health ministries in these churches.
Beginning in late 2003, the Fetal Infant Mortality Review (FIMR) Community Committee began sending reports and asking for input from the CCCC Health Subcommittee. By January, 2005, the two committees were meeting concurrently.
Subcommittee members have worked to support initiatives within churches. Education sessions, particularly on men’s health issues, provided by the St. Paul’s Missionary Baptist Association are supported through the provision of programs, brochures, and other information. See also Voices of the Community.
2003-2008 Served as the county advisory committee for “More Smiling Faces in Beautiful Places,” a state level partnership led by the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control aimed at promoting optimum oral health for South Carolina’s children. South Carolina’s statewide oral health partnership implemented a $960,000 grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. One function of the Subcommittee was to host the grassroots community meeting in 8/2003.
2003-2007 Served as county advisory committee to the DHEC Cardiovascular Health Grant.
During 2003-2005, the CCCC Health Subcommittee participated in the CCCC SAMHSA Project that was a partnership with the Institute on Families & Neighborhood Life at Clemson University. The needs assessment and strategic plan on behavioral health care issues created through this project have been the basis of several CCCC projects and were instrumental in setting direction and obtaining funding for the Northeastern Rural Health Network.
The Voices of the Community assessment process in partnership with DHEC Office of Minority Health occurred in August, 2001. Follow up forums were held in June & July of 2002 to continue the planning process to help faith based organizations develop an infrastructure that would support healthier lifestyles which would eventually lead to change in health of our entire community. As a result of this process, the Subcommittee developed federal Rural Health Outreach grant applications in 2003, 2004 (Project Take Control), & 2005 (Chesterfield County Health Ministry Network). The concept was to obtain funding for a Network to address health disparities. Unfortunately, these applications were not funded but helped build the capacity for the Northeastern Rural Health Network established in 2006. Another outcome of the Voices of the Community assessment process was the production of countywide health & faith conferences in 2004, 2005, & 2006 to celebrate and promote all of the local faith based health initiatives. See also A Taste of Health in 2009.
During this same time period, many CCCC Health Subcommittee members participated with a faith based group, Ministering Life in the Kingdom of God, which worked to create a parish nursing program. Although parish nursing was not funded, the group continues to partner with the school district on the Boys to Men initiative to mentor young African American men.
In 2000, the CCCC Health Subcommittee served as the HIV/AIDS planning grant advisory committee for CareSouth Carolina, Inc. The planning grant resulted in a Ryan White Care Act funded program, CareInnovations, which continues to provide prevention education activities as well as services to HIV/AIDS patients in the region.
For more information, contact Margaret Plettinger Mitchell, 843-623-5274
05/18
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