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History
The Forsyth County Healthy Community Coalition gathered in 2002 by invitation of the Health Director, Dr. Tim Monroe.
People that had served on former Forsyth County Healthy Carolinians initiatives as well as other grassroots and formal
leaders in the community were invited to participate.
A Community Health Assessment committee conducted a year-long assessment of health in Forsyth County during 2002 and 2003. This diverse group reviewed information so that it could understand the pressing health concerns of local residents. Committee members then ranked health issues according to importance, seriousness of consequences, and possibility of correcting the problem. Based on the results from the ranking process, the following four priority health areas and two overarching concerns were identified:
- Priority Areas:
Health Behaviors
Reproductive Health
Access to Care
Domestic Violence - Overarching concerns (impacting all priority areas):
Racial Disparities
Mental Health
At the initial Forsyth County Health Summit in 2003, findings from the Community Assessment were presented. The summit also served as the first official debut of the Forsyth County Healthy Community Coalition and the first organized recruitment event. Over 300 Forsyth County residents attended. The theme for the Summit was “Defining Community Health Values.”
Approximately 150 community members joined the Coalition as a result of the Summit. Based on the interests of Coalition members and those who volunteered, the Healthy Community Coalition organized into four groups. Each of these groups then began to further investigate the health issues, to strategize about possible system or policy changes that could improve the identified health challenges, and to look to other communities and states for examples of successful strategies. Over the next two years, each group developed recommendations for specific, measurable system and policy changes for our community. Those recommendations can be found in the 2005 Policy Briefs Booklet.
Community health assessments are done every four years. The latest Community health assessment was completed during the Fall of 2007. To view the latest community health assessment, click here.
As new health issues arise, the Healthy Community Coalition creates new teams to address those issues. For example, an Environmental Health Team was added in early 2005 when residents expressed a willingness to work on a new pressing health concern: asthma and air quality.