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Community Health Matter Video Program

State: FL Type: Promising Practice Year: 2014

The Florida Department of Health in Volusia County’s main office is located in Daytona Beach, Florida. The population of Volusia County is between 400,000 and 499,000.Educating and empowering the community about public health Goals- Develop an increased understanding of the role of public health in our community Objective- Produce 30 public health news videos that spotlight the work of public health in the community per year Five major community partners a year will view DOH-Volusia as credible source of public health information in Volusia County and will ask to be added to mass email distribution list. To educate and empower community partners and the public The Community Health Matters Video Program is the creation of the Public Information Officer (PIO) whose background is in broadcast journalism. Each week the PIO selects a public health topic and writes and produces a 3 minute video spotlighting the topic. The video includes interviews with subject matter experts including the health department director. The video segment is featured on the Volusia County Government weekly community information television show called Volusia Magazine. This show has been on the air in Volusia County for 30 years. The public health segment has been a part of the show for ten years. All of the goals and objectives were met. The video program developed an increased understanding of the role of public health in our community. Each year the PIO has written and produced at least 30 public health video segments featuring the role of public health in our community. Over a ten year period, more than 300 public health videos have aired on television spotlighting public health. This program was successful for a number of reasons: The PIO is a professional television news reporter/producer and easily coordinated this task. Volusia County Government was more than willing to participate in a creative partnership which covered the cost production costs associated with creating the videos. The health department director is media savvy and was featured in the majority of the videos. Subject matter experts were willing to be interviewed for the videos. The viewers enjoy watching the videos and continue supporting the program The impact on public health varies. The WIC and Nutrition Program did videos every quarter promoting physical activity and nutrition campaigns geared towards clients. As a result, the videos are being used to promote healthy lifestyles in WIC clinics, on our health department websites and for speaking engagements.
The Florida Department of Health in Volusia County’s main office is located in Daytona Beach, Florida. The population of Volusia County is between 400,000 and 499,000. The served population consists of a racial and ethnic mixture.It is becoming more and more important to educate and empower our community about the role of public health. Residents and visitors need to understand public health and what they can do to protect themselves and their loved ones. According to the United States Census, 85 percent of the population is white, 11.8 percent is Hispanic and 11 percent is black. Twenty two percent of the population is over the age of 65 years old age and 4.8 percent is under the age of five years old. Volusia County is located in the east-central part of the U.S. state of Florida, bordered by the St. Johns River to the west and the south, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. The county was founded on December 29, 1854. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 494,593. It is the sole county of the Deltona–Daytona Beach–Ormond Beach, FL Metropolitan Statistical Area, which was the 103rd-largest metropolitan area in the United States as of 2010.[1] The county seat is DeLand, and the largest municipality is Deltona. The Community Health Matters Video Program provides a unique educational tool for residents and visitors to learn about public health. In the past, the traditional ways to promote public health have been used such as newspaper articles, radio interviews, etc. Community Health Matters is creative and unique because it features the work of public health and it is written and produced by public health employees. It is always better to write your own features. You can tell your story better. No one walks in your shoes, but you. Community Health Matters takes a powerful look at the role of public health through the eyes of public health workers. It truly gives the community an up close and personal view of public health and what they can do to stay safe. Community Health Matters is new to the field of public health in the sense of connecting to an existing television program and being a part of that accomplishment for ten years. Public information messaging tools were used in writing some of the scripts. Healthy People 2020 topics have also been featured in the videos. Community Health Matters is unique because it features a number of the CDC Winnable Battles topics as well as any and all public health topics or concerns such as nutrition, physical activity, obesity, tobacco prevention, HIV prevention, sexually transmitted diseases, drowning prevention, public health preparedness and more. Each week the PIO selects a public health topic and writes and produces a 3 minute video spotlighting the topic. The video includes interviews with subject matter experts including the health department director. The video segment is featured on the Volusia County Government weekly community information television show called Volusia Magazine. This show has been on the air in Volusia County for 30 years. The public health segment has been a part of the show for ten years.
HIV in the U.S.|Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity|Tobacco
Goal- Develop an increased understanding of the role of public health in our communityObjective- Produce 30 public health news videos that spotlight the work of public health in the community per year The Community Health Matters Video Program is the creation of the Public Information Officer (PIO) whose background is in broadcast journalism. The PIO implemented the entire program by reaching out to the Volusia County Government and asking to provide a public health segment for the television program. The PIO selects the topics, writes the scripts, shots with the photographer, interviews the subject matter experts, helps with the editing, and does everything necessary to make the video accurate. The videos are posted on DOH youtube and posted to our website each week. The video also airs on the public broadcasting channel WDSC TV 15. The Vision for WDSC TV-15 is to be the Television station of choice in Central Florida. As a department of Daytona State College, (WDSC-TV) Public Broadcasting embraces and supports the college's mission to provide quality educational opportunities to the citizens in this service area. WDSC dedicates resources toward assisting the college in achieving its institutional goals. WDSC is committed to broadcasting high quality programs which educate, enrich, and entertain our viewers. We deliver educational programs, services, and information to Central Florida homes, schools, and businesses through state-of-the art telecommunications technologies. WDSC also produces programming that addresses the interests and needs of the communities we serve. WDSC will maintain the highest standards of integrity in our endeavors to position Daytona State College/WDSC as Central Florida’s most accessible resource for lifelong learning. Stakeholders include: DOH-Volusia Florida Department f Health Volusia County Government Various community partners such as Halifax Medical Center, Healthy Start Coalition, Stewart Marchman ACT, American Red Cross, United Way, etc Community partners have provided subject matter experts for interviews and supported the video project by watching it weekly. DOH-Volusia has a very strong working relationship with our community partners. We often provide an opportunity to feature our community partners on the video which often saves them the costs associated with hiring a crew to do their own video project. The funding is minimal if you use your community partners and have a talented Public Information Officer with a background in broadcast journalism to lead the project. The video project would cost more if you are shooting and editing your own video. The county is covering those costs for us. Budget DVDs $100.00
Objective- To produce 30 public health news videos that spotlight the work of public health in the community per year.Our objectives were achieved because we were fortunate to have a skilled communications professional to serve as the reporter. We measured the videos based on wanting to produce one weekly over a 52 week period.
This video program is a practical way to promote public health programs and services.The practice categories include: Chronic Disease Environmental Health Immunization The Community Health Matters Video Program has been going strong for ten years. There is no shortage of public health programs, services, prevention tips, issues and topics to feature on televison. Sustainability for this project is very strong with the right players in place.
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