Vaishnavi, Ramprasad, Deanna Romero, Gilda Gonzalez, and Dr. Kristen Linton
Abstract
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Ventura County Public Health had conducted a community health needs assessment. Ventura County Public Health felt it necessary to readdress the needs of the community and discuss the justification of the surveys since the pandemic. This data will be used to understand and improve resources for the community, as well as feedback from high school and college students to improve resources for students’ health needs, if possible. Survey feedback from these groups will be used to identify what outlying and underserved concerns are present within the health of Ventura County students, as they are the marker for future generations of public health. The Health Needs Assessment was built upon the grounded theory, meaning it had no a prior hypothesis, or no hypothesis, allowing Ventura County Public Health researchers to approach the surveyed data with an open mind. The question we hope to answer from this survey is “What do you think makes a “Healthy Community?” The methodologies utilized in cultivation of data were by means of survey conduction with a sample size of 250 total, and focus groups with 15 total. Our expected findings revolve around receiving results and discussing the implication. Preliminary findings have shown that mental health was especially important among high school and college students. High School students commonly reported domestic environmental effects on health, such as violence, increased tension among family members due to families being home more during the pandemic. College students commonly reported concerns related to mental health, food security, and a lost sense of community. We would like to acknowledge Gabe Valdez and the Pacifica High School Health Science Academy for their involvement in this survey.
Presentation
Session 1 – 1:30p.m. – 2:45p.m.
Room C – Sierra 2411
