Latinos in Sampson County, North Carolina : an action-oriented community diagnosis

The following document is a detailed report of an Action Oriented Community Diagnosis (AOCD) conducted by a team of six students from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, School of Public Health, Department of Health Behavior and Health Educations in collaboration with the Sampson County Health Department. The AOCD was conducted in order to understand the cultural, social, economic, and health experiences of Latinos living in or accessing services in Sampson County. Throughout the AOCD process, the AOCD student team and community participants worked together to identify the strengths and challenges of Latinos living or accessing services in Sampson County and to create action steps addressing several of the identified challenges. Between September 2007 and April 2008, with the help of community liaisons from the Sampson County Health Department, the student team made an effort to learn about the community. By reviewing secondary sources of information such as newspapers, and websites, conducting in-depth interviews with 16 service providers and nine community members; and facilitating five focus groups with community members, the team members gained a broad perspective on issues important to the Latino community in Sampson County. The team organized a data coding system to identify recurring themes related to the Latino community living in or accessing services in Sampson County. On April 19, 2008, the analyzed data were presented to the community at a forum held at the Sampson Community College, with the aim of bridging different viewpoints, creating a dialogue among county residents and service providers, and developing actions steps to address the identified challenges. The specific challenges included transportation, language and communication, awareness of services, leadership, housing, and recreation. The following are action steps that resulted from the group discussion at the forum: Raise awareness of transportation services that currently exist in Sampson County through Spanish language newspapers and radio. Get more people involved in community events. Organize ongoing community meetings to share information between service providers and community members. Following the forum, the student team compiled this report that presents recommendations for the community based on results from the forum and its experiences in Sampson County. The principal final recommendations include: The team recommends that service providers and community members work closely together to develop materials and to organize events that are culturally appropriate and will encourage more Latinos to participate in community discussions. The team also recommends that advertisements for activities, events or services clearly state whether translation services are provided or bilingual staff will be present and what, if any, documentation is required. Further, it is recommended that these advertisements are distributed or announced in a manner that is likely to reach the Latino population, (e.g., door-to-door flier circulation, Spanish language radio, Spanish language newspapers, etc.) The team strongly recommends that service providers work in collaboration with community members in any community organizing effort in order to best serve the community‘s needs. Following the action steps identified, the team recommends that ongoing community meetings are held in an effort to bring together service providers and community members to share information. The student team hopes that this document and its contents will serve as a resource for continuing a community dialogue initiated at the community forum. Ultimately, the team hopes that the entire AOCD process and final report will lead to improvements not only for Latinos, but also for all residents of Sampson County.Master of Public Healt