EF Spinello
California State University, Northridge - Dept. of Health Sciences, Northridge, CA
Thursday, August 20, 1998, 11:15 - 11:45am
Students in the Health Education program at California State University, Northridge, as well as at other universities, are often trained through the use of practical projects as part of the curriculum. Health education projects typically require that students select a geographical community, conduct a community health education needs assessment, and then produce a program plan which addresses the health needs of that community.The purpose of this project was to develop a community health database and mapping system which geographically integrated demographic, housing, morbidity and mortality data together with specially written software to facilitate analysis and mapping of the data. The PHIS system represents a step toward using computer technology to improve the process of developing health education needs assessments. It also provides a valuable resource which is used to help train health educators by making hard-to-find needs assessment data readily available to them as well as giving them the ability to analyze the data spatially. The Health Education Program and the University also intend to find additional applications where the PHIS database can be used successfully. Currently, the PHIS system and database are being tested by the City of Hope National Medical Center as part of a program to determine its effectiveness as a decision-support tool. After pilot testing in Fall 1997, The Public Health Information System was implemented for use in community health education classes at California State University. Additionally, the system has been made available to the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services for testing in the Border Health program as a needs assessment tool.
Keywords:
| Needs | Assessment | Community |
Presenter:
Elio F. Spinello
California State University, Northridge
Dept. of Health Sciences
18111 Nordhoff Street, Northridge, CA 91330-0001. USA.
Telephone: (818) 831-7607
FAX: (818) 831-9078
Email: elio.spinello@csun.edu