LiveWell Kershaw: the healthiest county in South Carolina
Issue
Kershaw County, South Carolina can be described as a fragmented community. With close proximity to Columbia, most state and federal organizations don't categorize it as a rural county; however, when measuring at anything smaller than the county level, almost half of the county qualifies. Financially the area is known to have very wealthy residents and attract tourists annually with their infamous horse races, yet individuals living in poverty are not unforeseen by the public eye. While many organizations within Kershaw County have been working to improve the health status for all of their residents, historically they've been working in silos resulting in relatively slow change.
In early 2010, the nation began undergoing a major public health shift. The Affordable Care Act was passed, requiring all 501.c.3 hospitals to complete a community health needs assessment (CHNA) and develop an implementation plan, every three years; the first due by September 2013. KershawHealth, a hospital organization in Kershaw County, had never done a CHNA before and did not know where to start. Their 100th anniversary as a hospital organization was approaching and they wanted to create a sustainable implementation plan that would leave the legacy for Kershaw County.
Concurrently, the Healthy South Carolina Initiative awarded Eat Smart Move More Kershaw County (ESMMKC) a $90,000 Community Transformation Grant from the Centers for Disease Control. The grant received would help support a countywide greenways project, expand EBT access at the local farmer's market, and promote 50 businesses to "make the healthy choice the easy choice". As part of the grant requirements, the organization needed to demonstrate that they engaged in capacity building activities and also complete a community needs assessment.
Intervention
In 2011, KershawHealth reached out to the Arnold School of Public Health's Office of Public Health Practice (OPHP) (a partner in the Healthy South Carolina Initiative) to help facilitate their CHNA process. Since OPHP knew that ESMMKC would also have to conduct a community needs assessment, the two organizations joined forces with Eat Smart Move More Kershaw County. As such, the following occurred:
- Kelly Kavanaugh, a recent graduate of the Arnold School of Public Health's Health Promotion, Education and Behavior Master's program, was hired as a full-time research associate for the project and member of the support team;
- 20 diverse key stakeholders were identified for the project and joined the Core Planning Committee (CPC);
- The CPC developed an organic vision and action plan using the Mobilizing for Action through Planning and Partnerships (MAPP) framework.
Impact
In the fall of 2012, the group branded themselves "LiveWell Kershaw" and held a community kickoff where they announced their mission of being "the healthiest county in South Carolina". The event also commenced the community assessment process, which has generated various outcomes including:
- Collecting over 900 surveys, hosting 5 town hall meetings, and speaking with several community groups;
- Building capacity among community members through the identification of other community projects and assessment processes, and the sharing of knowledge and resources;
- Providing a community voice to complement existing public data.
Contact:
Kelly Kavanaugh, MPH, CHES
Office of Public Health Practice
Arnold School of Public Health
University of South Carolina
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