[August 12, 2011] Health Department program aims to attack county's biggest problems Tweet HILLSBOROUGH, Aug 12, 2011 (The Herald-Sun - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- The Orange County Health Department is asking people to help them out with developing a plan of attack on the county's biggest health problems. A program called Healthy Carolinians of Orange County is a network of agencies and citizens that works to promote health and wellness within the county. Its mission is to advocate, guide and assist Orange County in planning and implementing health care strategies to promote healthy lifestyles, improve health status and prevent premature death and injury for all residents in the county regardless of age, race, income or educational level. The overall goal of the program is to reduce health disparities. As part of the network's programming, the Health Department and volunteers conduct a community health survey every four years by going door to door to ask people about their concerns. The survey was conducted in March. Beginning on Tuesday, Healthy Carolinians will be holding five forums throughout the county for residents to talk about the results of the survey and to suggest which health issues are the most pressing for the county to tackle. Nidhi Sachdeva, the Healthy Carolinians coordinator for the Orange County Health Department, and others will present the information from the survey at the public forums. Then they'll stop talking and start listening. "It's definitely going to be a two-way presentation," Sachdeva said. The presenters will start off with about 25 topics, and ask those in attendance to determine which ones they think are the most important. Two examples would be mental health and substance abuse, Sachdeva said. The continued restructuring of the mental health system is changing the way people seek and find treatment in Orange County. Since mental health problems seem to affect nearly everyone in one way or another, it's an important concern, she said. "There's obviously not enough support," Sachdeva said. "That's something we can work on. It's a big issue. There are such a lot of people that are affected." Because of the vast number of health issues, part of the object of the forums is to narrow down the list to about 10. "We know we can't do it all," she said. They want to identify issues that are important but also where they know they can have some impact. From the 10, they plan to pick five issues to focus on in the coming year, Sachdeva said. Members of Healthy Carolinians of Orange County include representatives from schools, human service agencies, churches, civic groups, businesses, local government, UNC, health care organizations including UNC Healthcare, and concerned citizens. ________________________________________ Healthy Carolinians of Orange County Public Forums -Aug. 16 -- from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Faith Tabernacle Oasis of Love 8005 Rogers Road, Chapel Hill -Aug. 23 -- from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Schley Grange Hall 3416 Schley Road, Hillsborough -Aug. 30 -- from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Efland-Cheeks Community Center 117 Richmond Road, Efland -Sept. 1 -- from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Orange County Central Senior Center 103 Meadowland Drive, Hillsborough (behind the Sportsplex) -Sept. 13 -- from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Hargraves Community Center 216 N. Roberson St., Chapel Hill To see more of The Herald-Sun, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.heraldsun.com. Copyright (c) 2011, The Herald-Sun, Durham, N.C. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]