The Beaufort County Health Department is now collecting data to address health issues in the community.

Through a state requirement, community health assessments must be conducted every 36 months to reevaluate the health of the community, said BCHD Public Health Education Specialist JaNell Lewis. Through September 12, residents of Beaufort County are asked to participate in the 14-page survey, which asks where they live as well as a range of questions pertaining to personal habits, health choices and opinions about issues facing the community. The survey allows residents 16 and older to participate, Lewis said.

“There’s a lot of stuff it covers,” Lewis said. “This is used to gather an overall assessment of public health in the community. It ranges from questions about transportation to personal health questions to questions about economics in the area.”

Lewis said the surveys, which are anonymous, can be taken two different ways: through a hard copy version that can be found in doctor’s offices, libraries and other community locations; and through an online portal. The surveys are used to help direct future efforts to tackle public health issues in the community. The assessment allows public health officials to figure out issues in the community and the best way to address those issues. The health department can then implement plans to change those issues through public health programs. In March 2015, the health department will release the results of the assessment, Lewis said.

“We use the whole community as much as possible to get the word out,” Lewis said. “But word of mouth is one of our biggest ways to get it out there.”

In 2011 when the last assessment was conducted, 1,100 residents participated, Lewis said. Based on that assessment, the three top issues were diabetes, cancer and heart disease. Those issues were ones the community reported as wanting to know more about, Lewis said.

As a way to address one of those issues — diabetes — the health department applied for a grant through Vidant Health. The grant involved a project called MyPlate, a nutrition guide published by the USDA, depicting a place setting with a plate and glass divided into five food groups. The MyPlate model replaced the 19-year use of the food pyramid diagram. The project focused on educating Kindergarten through third-graders in Beaufort County about nutrition and making healthy eating choices, Lewis said.

“If the whole county answered, it would be perfect, but we shoot for as many as we can get,” Lewis said. “The more we can get, the better assessment we get and the best representation of the county’s health and needs.”

For more information or to request a form, call JaNell Lewis at 252-940-5090 or the Beaufort County Health Department at 252-946-1902. To access the online assessment, visit http://tinyurl.com/BCCHA2014.