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Health needs survey begins Tuesday

A group of volunteers, on behalf of the Hill County Health Consortium, will conduct a three day door-to-door survey for the purpose of better understanding the health needs of the community.

The surveying will begin Tuesday and continue for two more days from noon to 8 p.m. each day. The volunteers will be wearing tan vests and the survey will take about 15 minutes.

Every three years, the Consortium - made up of Bullhook Community Health Center, Boys & Girls Club of the Hi-Line, District 4 Human Resources Development Council, Hill County Health Department and Northern Montana Health Care - carries out a community health needs assessment to evaluate the community's needs.

"And then we work to prioritize those and then all of the agencies in the Hill County Health Consortium work on improving that aspect of our community health," Northern Montana Hospital Vice President of Regulatory and Community Services Christen Obresley said.

Although the survey has been going on for years, this will be the first time the door-to-door method will be used to gauge community health needs.

"It's questions like, 'If you need mental health services, where would you go? If you didn't have enough food, do you know where to go?'" she said. "Either you'll know or you won't know."

In the past, similar assessments have resulted in the city's walking map.

"Several years we learned that a community health need had to do with childhood obesity. Out of that came the walking map of Havre. It' s map of Havre with red lines that show where the official and unofficial walking areas of Havre areas," Obresley said.

Although there is statistical information and plenty of similar available data, Obresley said, the survey is a little different.

"Unless you go and ask the community themselves, you really don't hear the people's voice," she said.

 

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