Story of Measurable Improvement in Public Health

Name of Health Department/Agency:	Levy County Health Department
State:	FL
Contact Name:	Barbara Locke
Contact Information:	barbara_locke@doh.state.fl.us
Date Added:	6/26/2011
Program/Topic Area:	Animal bite reporting
QI techniques/tools:	5-whys, Flowchart, Root Cause Analysis, Brainstorming
Description of the process and intervention:	The goal of this effort was to provide accurate and timely animal bite reporting by increasing Levy County residents' awareness of six key components bite reporting. The team conducted a pre-test with 350 respondents to gather data on residents' awareness of the 6 components of animal bite reporting. An 8-week campaign was implemented including a rabies educational board that was toured throughout the community, incentives for interacting with the board, bi-lingual educational pamphlets, and informational newspaper articles. Following the campaign, a post-test was administered to 326 to measure change in awareness.
Result/outcome:	As a result of the campaign, residents demonstrated an increased awareness of 4 of the 6 key components of animal bite reporting.
Next Steps:	Institute an animal bite education program as a part of the agency's ongoing community educational programs and replicate this process across other programs.