STEUBENVILLE — Given today’s risk of technology fraud, many are quick to dismiss an e-mail or call from an unfamiliar source. But Jefferson County residents contacted by the Center for Marketing and Opinion Research should have no cause for alarm.

CMO Research on Thursday began contacting random Jefferson County residents to collect their feedback for the Jefferson County Community Health Assessment survey. Answers are entirely confidential and will aid the Jefferson County General Health District and Trinity Health System in identifying important health issues within the county, as well as prioritize services.

“Any phone call or e-mail from the Center for Marketing and Opinion Research is completely legitimate, and we want people to participate,” said Health Commissioner Andrew Henry.

“People can expect, if they participate, to have a number of questions that they’ll be asked to answer as they relate to their own health, the health of their household and some demographic information just to ensure that we’re … fairly representative of all Jefferson County.”

Using its population database, CMO Research is contacting Jefferson County residents at random to request their participation in the survey, which can be completed in about 12 minutes. As an incentive, those contacted by e-mail who participate will receive a $10 Amazon gift card at the same e-mail address.

Residents who are not contacted directly can participate by visiting jchealth.com and clicking the survey link.

Public health departments and local health systems are required to conduct joint health assessments every three years. Part of the process for health departments is utilizing the Mobilization for Action through Planning and Partnership — a three-phase strategic planning framework developed by the National Association of County and City Health Officials in 2001.

According to NACCHO’s website, MAPP is a “community-driven strategic planning process that helps communities assess their public health needs and resources, prioritize health issues and develop strategies to improve the health and well-being of their populations through a shared community health improvement plan. The newly developed MAPP 2.0 builds upon its predecessor, emphasizing the importance of community engagement, data-driven assessments and a focus on health equity.”

MAPP 2.0 is composed of Phase 1: Build the Community Health Improvement Foundation, Phase 2: Tell the Community Story and Phase 3: Continuously Improve the Community.

The JCGHD and Trinity have created a committee of individuals who represent organizations in Jefferson County, in addition to setting assessment goals. The Jefferson County Community Health Assessment is still in its early stages, focused on data collection, Henry said. “The foundation of this is to first reach out … and get a better understanding of some of the health issues in the community. That’s the first way we get data. Then we engage stakeholders: Other health service industries, schools or other community agencies that provide services to Jefferson County residents. Between the data compiled from the community survey and the stakeholders’ feedback, we really can take a big look at all the health issues identified and then prioritize the most important ones that we can tackle at the health department level.”

The survey period will likely continue through mid-December at the earliest, possibly carrying on through the end of the holiday season, Henry said. The stakeholder group will be established near the survey period’s end.

Collected data will feed into a subsequent Community Health Improvement Plan that is also revised every three years, Henry said.

“Accomplishing community health improvements in three years is really a very tight window. So, oftentimes you see the same priorities you identified in (your previous) community health assessment may be the same priorities you choose (now) just because the healthier community may be largely unchanged over three years. More or less the health issues may be the same, but you just have to change how you tackle them.”

Jefferson County’s last community health assessment was conducted in 2021. Due to the research vendor’s recommended methods, the data disproportionately reflected Steubenville ZIP codes, Henry said, so this year is seeing CMO Research aim for greater dispersion.

Regarding the 2021 survey, Henry said, “Overall, it was a quality product but was heavy on health care and needed to have more of a public health focus to distribute the report more evenly.”