September 11, 2023
Media Contact: Nancy Bell, Population Health Manager, nancy.bell@vdh.virginia.gov

West Piedmont Health District Collaborates with Community Partners
to Share Quality of Life Briefing

MARTINSVILLE, Va. – The West Piedmont Health District (WPHD), the Harvest Foundation of the Piedmont, and a group of citizens called the Equity Collaborative have been working to better understand the needs of citizens from every census tract, ethnic, racial and income group. A briefing will be held Friday, September 15 at 11:30 p.m. The event is open to the public and will be held at New College Institute, 191 Fayette St., Martinsville.

Two separate studies were conducted to identify the health outcomes of local residents. A few of the topics that were included in the study and will be addressed during the briefing include infant mortality, chronic health conditions, education, economic wellbeing, housing, food access, transportation and more.

The health district routinely leads community health assessments, but this one is different,” said Nancy Bell, population health manager, WPHD. “This time we approached data-seeking from an equity perspective using a formula of inclusion and outreach to underrepresented groups and doing so in nontraditional ways.”

The health district’s equity coordinator and project manager, Pamela Chitwood noted, “This is not just about determining the needs of citizens; it’s about better understanding the barriers that keep them from achieving optimum health. In the coming months, groups of citizens will work to identify effective solutions to those issues detailed within the report.”

The Harvest Foundation supported and supplemented the work by partnering with the University of Virginia. According to President of the Harvest Foundation, Kate Keller, understanding inequities within the community are vital in order for everyone to work towards better health outcomes. “Through the complementary studies it was determined that there is a difference of 14 years between the life expectancy of those living on different sides of the same street in Martinsville/Henry County. The goal now is to dig into those specific reasons and work with local communities to shrink that gap,” said Keller.

Links to the two data documents will be shared with those who attend the briefing. Attendees will also have the opportunity to join “solution teams” and work together with other with an interest in a particular area of public need.

Additional support in gathering and analyzing the data was provided by Community Health Solutions, Virginia Tech’s Center for Public Health Practice and Research, and the Weldon Cooper Center for Survey Research at University of Virginia.