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Research Articles

Vol. 20 No. 2

Community Health Needs Assessment in a Rural Setting: Foundation for a Community–Academic Partnership

Submitted
June 27, 2016
Published
2016-06-27

Abstract

The Community-based Cooperative for Studies Across GEnerations (CoSAGE) is a rural community–academic partnership with the long-term goal of developing community- and individual-level interventions to promote community well-being. The purpose of this study was to conduct a community needs assessment to solicit perceptions of the characteristics of the community, health-related resources, health-related barriers, and high-impact health problems and environmental factors. Key informant interviews (N = 30) were conducted with community leaders representing schools, businesses, churches, health care providers, and government. Thematic analysis was used to identify common themes across respondents. Church, family, and schools emerged as central community resources. Age-related hearing impairment was endorsed as the highest impact health condition, and lack of jobs was the highest impact environmental factor. These results provide insights into the health-related resources and needs of rural communities. Findings will be utilized to develop and prioritize a community-driven research agenda.