SVMC Community Health Needs Assessment 2021 - Catalog - Page 14
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Advertising and recruitment of participants
Recruiting a diversity of community voices, including subject matter experts, was a key focus of the
advertising strategy. Multiple channels were used for encouraging attendance to the forums, including:
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Frequent posts on SVMC’s official social media pages
A press release, published on the websites of various local news agencies
SVMC’s weekly health e-newsletter, sent to a large portion of SVMC’s service area via email
An episode of Shires Health, a new video series created in conjunction with the
Southwestern Vermont Chamber of Commerce and CAT-TV (Bennington’s local public access
television station)
The Bennington Community Collaborative, a bi-monthly meeting between various local
nonprofit organizations focused on community health improvement
Targeted outreach to community leaders, subject matter experts from the local district
office of the Vermont Department of Health, and active and engaged community members
An advertisement on SVMC’s website landing page.
Forum setting
The COVID-19 pandemic and associated restrictions on in-person gathering necessitated the use of a
video platform for hosting the community forums.
Individuals were asked to register in advance, and could do so on SVMC’s website. Registrants were
reminded of the session multiple times in advance of the event. Those without access to the internet
were able to participate in the meeting via telephone.
Each forum lasted one hour, and followed the same agenda. Attendees were welcomed and thanked for
their time, and then were shown slides that explained the purpose of the CHNA. Attendees were invited
to stretch their notion of a “health need” and to imagine interventions at the community level that
would support better health, not solely clinical care.
After this brief introduction, attendees were asked a series of questions, meant to prompt robust and
productive discussion. The same questions were asked at each forum, with follow-up questions asked as
appropriate to connect responses and reflect interpretation of the information being provided.
Participants were asked:
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If you could change one thing to make your community a healthier place, what would it be?
What population-specific health needs do you see in your community?
How has COVID-19 changed the health of your community?
What is currently happening that is helping to make your community healthier?
Forum Polls
At the end of each forum, a poll was launched asking “What are the top three health needs that you feel
should be prioritized and addressed in your community”? The listed response options reflected the main
topics and needs identified throughout the forum’s discussion. By building the poll’s response options
after the discussion had taken place, community needs were not assumed, but were based upon the
group’s conversation. While this resulted in five polls with slightly different response options, most
sessions included discussion about similar topics, and thus resulted in a similar poll.
Southwestern Vermont Medical Center
Community Health Needs Assessment 2021