Whatcom County
A Classic Community Nutrition Assessment Experience

The Whatcom county experience demonstrates the evolutionary nature of community development. At this point in time the community nutrition assessment process has included organization of a community planning group, exploration of the communities statistical profile and community resources, and the use of qualitative data to begin to define nutritional issues for the citizens of Whatcom County. 
 

Community nutrition assessment is not new to Whatcom County. Through the years some assessment, often on a program based, categorical level, has been the role of several agencies that contribute to the nutritional health of the population of Whatcom County. However, the ongoing process of community nutrition assessment got a boost when the Whatcom County Health Department targeted the nutritional health of the population as a key element in the health of the community assessment process. An initial project involved a successful public health initiative to promote "Five a Day", intakes of fruits and vegetables. In 1997 Local Capacity Development funds were provided for a comprehensive approach to community nutrition assessment and the project started to take shape under the direction of the Local Community Assessment Coordinator and the Health Department Nutrition Administrator. 
 

The first step in the assessment process was recruiting a community planning group. This group includes representatives from Whatcom county agencies and institutions that share the goal of improving the nutritional health of the people of Whatcom County. Group members represent the following organizations: 
 

The long term mission of this team was to develop a comprehensive plan to address nutritional needs in Whatcom County. 

Initial goals included the following: 
 

At the first meeting committee members began to establish the group’s mission, goals and objectives. In its first months the committee explored existing data, identified assessment data that would be needed to further describe the population, and explored various potential methods of collecting new data. Once new data was collected and analyzed, the group convened to discuss the implications of the data and to make plans for ongoing assessment. 

Each group member brought information about data that was available through agencies represented in the group and the group put together a matrix of data sources and populations covered by existing data. One important outcome of this analysis was the realization that the group had nutritional data on residents who had participated in nutrition programs, but there was little information about other segments of the population. In addition the group worked with a University of Washington graduate student to do preliminary examination of census, vital records, and survey data that relate to nutritional status. 

The group considered several approaches to gathering additional data for community nutrition assessment for Whatcom County. Initially the group discussed gathering data using questionnaires that would be completed by clients at community agencies. This idea was determined to be unrealistic in that it would require considerable time and effort on the part of personnel at each agency. A second option was to include nutrition questions in a survey that was being planned by the Opportunity Council. This was to be a random digit dialing survey of county residents. Consultation for survey question development was provided through Public Health Services at the Washington State Department of Health, and the Opportunity Council was in favor of this plan because nutrition assessment local capacity development funds would provide a source of funding for the planned survey. This idea had to be abandoned when it became apparent that the time times of the two groups were in conflict, and that the survey wouldn’t be completed in time to use the available nutrition assessment funding. 

The Steering Committee eventually decided that the best use of available time and resources was to use qualitative methods to gain an understanding of the way nutrition issues are viewed by employed adults, ages 25-45. The steering committee developed the questions that would be asked in the focus groups. The focus group process is discussed below. After the focus groups were completed, the steering Committee met to discussed the results, apply them to the planning process, and make future plans for ongoing assessment activities. 
 

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Planning & Conducting Focus Groups