Community workgroup drafts a plan for improved health services in Carson

After months of meetings, research and analysis, a communitywide health workgroup has drafted an improvement plan destined to become a roadmap for improving health services in Carson City, said Marena Works, the city's health and human services director.

More than 50 stakeholders met Friday to go over the responsibilities and challenges faced by health care providers and others committed to a healthy community.

"I'm amazed by the response," Works said. "This is our third meeting. We got the input, and now we're trying to mobilize the community to put together a community health improvement plan that means something."

One way the group hopes to streamline services is to create a database for assessing needs, she said.

"Right now, everyone collects data differently, and we don't know how difficult it would be to standardize data collection," she said.

The previous workshops produced three priorities for the health improvement plan:

• Access to health information and health care, focusing on improving access to health information such as those in Carson City as well as community partners, and improving access to health care such as oral health and mental health.

• Chronic disease prevention such as Type II diabetes, smoking and tobacco cessation, and obesity.

• Lifestyle and behavioral health issues such as teen pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, alcohol and substance abuse, and pedestrian and bicycle safety and access.

Participants discussed each issue in depth Friday and filled out a workbook. Information from the workbooks was collected and will be compiled into a final action plan, Works said.

The core of the workgroup includes one or more representatives from the Carson City Fire Department, Carson City School District, Sierra Charter middle and high schools, Friends In Service Helping, Carson Tahoe Regional Healthcare, Nevada Public Health Foundation, Sierra Family Health Centers, Nevada Health Centers, Inc. and the Nevada Appeal.

Also invited to participate were other important contributors to the health of the community such as Fitness 10, the Greenhouse Project and Muscle Powered.

"We wanted a good cross-section of people in the community. We have Parks and Recreation here because they play a part in the activities of the community, and the Planning Division is responsible for our bike lanes and sidewalks," Works said.

In her executive summary of the Community Health Assessment draft, Works wrote, "The primary needs are for better information and availability of data through enhanced data gathering analysis, technology and dissemination."

Works credits the many resources in Carson City that can be used to address priority health areas including "excellent outdoor recreation opportunities, farmers' markets, a school district committed to healthy eating, an excellent medical center, a local college and nearby university."

Friday's workshop was led by Joanne Skelly, the University of Nevada's Cooperative Extension educator for Carson City and Storey County.