Development and implementation of a community health survey for public health accreditation: Case study from a rural county in California

© 2017 Objective To describe the planning, development, pilot testing, fielding, and outcomes of a community health survey in a rural California county pursuing public health accreditation. Design Community partners helped the local health department develop the community health survey. Extensive English- and Spanish-language pilot testing was conducted over a period of four months. Final survey fielding was conducted online and at 20 community sites. Results 2189 completed surveys were collected. Total costs for developing and fielding the survey were approximately $25,000. Survey results indicated that alcoholism/drug abuse, breathing problems, and obesity were the primary health concerns of county residents. Benefits of conducting the community survey included strengthening inter-organizational partnerships between community partners, engaging a large and diverse respondent sample, and gathering information on a nuanced set of health indicators. Challenges included an unexpectedly high number of respondents and managing the needs of respondents with disabilities or poor literacy. Conclusion The information gathered from the community health survey was used in the implementation of a county-wide multi-agency strategic plan to address health priorities identified in the CHA. Engaging a broad set of community partners throughout the survey process was critical for ensuring the project s relevance and long-term regional impact.