Delaware County FOCA 1

RUNNING HEAD: DELAWARE COUNTY FOCA

Phase 3, Forces of Change Assessment (FOCA)

Josh Matthews

Benedictine University
 Delaware County FOCA 2

Health behaviors, sexual health, and health services are clearly the most critical foci of

creating a healthy Delaware County. Statistically, the three areas are all outlined as the key areas

of concern of both citizens and health care findings as primary health deterrents regionally. In

utilizing a FOC assessment it allows us to break down the health deterrents (forces), the related

threats, and potential opportunities created for the healthcare community to address them.

Chronic disease risk factors have reached epidemic levels throughout much of the

country, and hold true for Delaware County. Despite being among the top healthies counties,

poor heathy behaviors are weakening our county. Much of the community is overweight (36.7%)

or obese (28.1%), and lack physical activity (21.8%) (DGHD, 2013). In line with the state of the

counties weight problem the Delaware General Health Department has also found that 23.8% are

smokers and 78.8% consume less than the recommended daily suggestion for vegetables.

Coupling this was the poverty, unemployment, educational, and rural setting it calls for a dire

need for change. In addressing healthy behaviors this can be broken down into two programs;

obesity and substance abuse. Health education and healthy living behavior awareness offers

many opportunities for hospitals, educational centers, groceries, fitness centers, schools, and

many other community stakeholders to become involved with the community. Substance abuse is

another much-needed focus of programs and community partners to address the serious problem

of unhealthy behavior within the county. Many not for profit, advocacy, and support groups can

promote their programs and create awareness to an often undiscussed and culturally accepted

problem.

Sexual health is another problem that largely goes avoided and ignored in the community.

The rise of sexually transmitted diseases and infections has continually grown yearly to its
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national crisis that it has become today. Sexual health can be addressed on two fronts in the form

of STD awareness and prevention and sexual health screening. This creates many opportunities

for the health community to promote awareness of how much of a threat STDs are, as well as to

offer screening. As many STDs are carried undetected until much damage is done and potentially

passed among others, screening is a powerful tool in education. Sexual health awareness and

education is the most important component to making informed decisions that could potentially

be life altering to the 15-24-year-old community which is at the highest risk. Another opportunity

is to raise awareness from a cultural standpoint as the African-American population is

overwhelmingly more at risk.

Health services is the final health deterrent that has been found most important to

Delaware County. Because of being the quickest growing county in the state it is suffering from

growing too quickly (ODH, 2008). Despite a far better than average primary doctor to patient

ratio, healthcare is difficult for many to find as most providers are localized to small areas. This

creates the opportunity for new healthcare programs and advocates to enter the community and

fill the vacuum of specialized care. Between the quickly growing population and the difficulty in

linking patient and care, many opportunities are available for not for profit and healthcare

providers to expand.

Community awareness is important to maintain transparency in the health of the

community and agenda of the healthcare community. The community can be made aware of the

findings of the MAPP process in several ways. County meetings of various agencies are an

opportunity to address the community and invite discussion of both plan and expected direction.

Social media has quickly become the source of news for many and offers numerous avenues such
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as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other like-minded social media platforms. Websites, county

publications, and advertisements are excellent sources of information that can easily be utilized

by the public to learn of the upcoming findings and initiatives.

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Appendix
Sub-Committee

Barbara Lewis
Community Action Partnership- Delaware County

Russell Martin
Sheriff at Delaware County Sheriff's Office
Delaware County Sheriff's Office

Shawna Bosse Davis

System Vice President of Community and Government Relations for OhioHealth

Holly Quaine
President at Delaware Area Chamber of Commerce
Delaware Area Chamber of Commerce

Michael Vance
American Red Cross of North Central Ohio Regional Volunteer Specialist

Michelle Hannan
The Salvation Army Anti-Human Trafficking Program Director

FoC Assessment Worksheet
Forces (Trend, Events, Threats Posed
Factors)
Health Behaviors
Obesity
Substance abuse
Sexual Health
STD prevention
Health screening
Health Services
Population growth demand
Linking client and care
*From page 77 of the MAPP User Handbook (2013)
References
Delaware County FOCA 6
Opportunities Created
Health education incentives
Addiction awareness and
support groups
Awareness and education and
prevention method
Hospital and education
incentive/ health fair
New program incentive to
move into county
Joint healthcare and advocacy
co-op
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Community Tool Box (n.d.). MAPP: mobilizing for action through planning and

partnerships. Retrieved from http://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/overview/models-for-

community-health-and-development/mapp/main

Delaware General Health District (2013). Delaware County environmental health profile.

Retrieved from http://www.delawarehealth.org/files/files/2013%20Environmental%20Health

%20Profile_Final.pdf

The Ohio department of Health (2008). Healthy Ohio the state of living well. Retrieved from

http://www.healthy.ohio.gov/comprofiles/delaware.pdf