Task 5

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Module 2 — Task 5: Generate a List of Community-Specific Environmental Health Issues

In this task, the team will collect descriptive information about perceived community concerns. The intent is to identify concerns that are most relevant to community members and to determine how prevalent or widespread these concerns are in the community. Statistical information about the community’s environmental health status is combined with this descriptive information to generate issue profiles in Task 9. A comprehensive list of environmental health issues should be generated, as these will be used to develop community-specific standards and indicators, draft issue profiles, rank concerns, and set priorities for action.

At the completion of this task, the assessment team should have:

Data on community knowledge, attitudes, behaviors, and perceptions related to environmental health
A manageable list of community-identified environmental health concerns

Click the following links to skip to each section:

»	Evaluate and Select Data-Gathering Methods
»	Collect Data on Community Concerns
»	Create a Manageable List of Issues

Evaluate and Select Data-Gathering Methods

Community assessments are simultaneously research projects and efforts to engage the community around environmental health issues. Therefore, it is important to consider the process of gathering information on the community’s concerns needs to do more than build on the existing base of knowledge and gather additional community-specific information in order to foster the community’s understanding of the project and provide opportunities for community engagement.

These considerations will affect the choice of a data-gathering method. If the project is to involve the community, build new relationships, establish a presence for the project sponsors, and educate members of the community, then the team needs to consider the degree to which a research method will contribute to or impede these goals.

Some questions to consider are:

Does the method provide an opportunity to engage citizens in learning about the project, the community, or environmental health?
Does the method provide an opportunity to introduce the project’s sponsors to key constituents?
Does the method provide an opportunity to enhance the visibility of the project and the sponsors?

An assessment of community concerns can be done formally or informally. A formal assessment collects data that are representative and valid. Data can be collected by one of two methods: population survey or sample survey. In a population survey, all possible respondents are identified and approached to provide information. In a sample survey, a segment of the population is carefully selected and approached to provide information. (Link to a sample survey tool)

An informal assessment collects data that may be useful but may not stand up to scientific scrutiny. The main advantage is the ability to collect basic information quickly. Informal methods recognize the possibility of bias and can actually use it to their advantage, i.e., to collect specific data from a targeted audience. The more closely the assessment team approximates conditions of scientific accuracy and validity, the more valid and reliable the data procured will be. At the very least, when using informal assessment methodologies, the assessment team needs to be aware of the possible biases involved, and interpret the results accordingly.

Watch Susan Sutherland (Delaware County, Ohio) discuss survey methodologies.

Collect Data on Community Concerns

Solicit opinions from the community at large via the selected method(s). Be sure to tap into knowledge contained within the team by having each member list any information he or she has about issues of importance to the community. As this list will be influenced by assumptions that may or may not be valid, consider designing a data-collection method capable of generating information to support or clarify these assertions.

(Links to notes from the field on Soliciting Community Input and Collecting data on community knowledge, perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors)

Listen to Gloria Graham (Polk, Co, FL) explain Community Lessons.

Create a Manageable List of Issues

The list of issues generated at this point will be the focus of the rest of the assessment process. The process will be most effective and useful if the list of issues is manageable. Evaluate the proposed list of issues according to these criteria:

Does the issue fall within the intended scope of the assessment?
Does the issue represent a relationship between the environment and human health?
Is it a local concern?

To condense the list further, consider these questions:

Was this an issue identified by a significant majority of the public?
Can other information from the community support the inclusion of this issue?

The issue list can be further streamlined during Task 6 (analyzing the issues with a systems framework).

View List Illustration

Questions to Consider:

When gathering local data, what issues, and concepts must you take into account? What are some of the benefits and limitations of formal and informal data collection methods? Once issues are identified, how do you begin to create a manageable list of issues?