Office of Public Relations – Newsroom
News Release
Contact: Lauren Clark, (303) 315-1680, Lauren.Clark@Uchsc.edu
or Gene Marsh,315-1164, Gene.Marsh@Uchsc.edu
Nursing Students To Conduct Health Needs Assessment Surveys in Kiowa and Cheyenne Counties
DENVER (September 23, 2004) — Nursing graduate students will collaborate with faculty, local public health nurses, and state public health nursing consultants to conduct community health assessments with three rural Colorado counties this fall. Nursing doctorate and master degree students attending the University of Colorado Denver 's School of Nursing, who are enrolled in the public health nursing program, will conduct a community health assessment from Oct. 6 through Oct. 9 in partnership with Kiowa and Cheyenne counties.
The purpose of the community health assessment is two-fold. First, the assessment will provide an evaluation of the health and human services of the communities surveyed and will identify and describe strengths, resources, risk factors and problem areas affecting community health. Second, the assessment team will recommend community-driven actions to improve the physical, psychosocial, and cultural health of the Kiowa and Cheyenne County communities.
The CU nursing students will approach county residents in public areas, including the streets, places of commerce and parks, to ask for their perspectives regarding health in the community. Students will invite citizens to complete surveys and will analyze existing health, census, and community service data. Students will also conduct 45-minute interviews with community leaders and experts on specific aspects of community services and activities.
Following two months of data analysis, the CU student team and the CU School of Nursing professors Gene Marsh, PhD, and Lauren Clark, PhD, will present the community leaders with the findings and recommendations of the community health assessment.
Anyone who would like to be considered as a key informant for the assessment or who has questions about the community health assessment program may contact Renay Crain at the Kiowa Public Health Nursing office or Linda Roth at the Cheyenne County Public Health Nursing office.
The University of Colorado Denver is one of three campuses in the University of Colorado system. Located in Denver and Aurora, Colo., the center includes schools of medicine, nursing, pharmacy, and dentistry, a graduate school and a teaching hospital. For more information, visit the Web site at www.uchsc.edu.