Sanford, Lee County : an action-oriented community diagnosis : findings and next steps of action
Creators: name: Thomas, Kamilah
name: Adams, Monica
name: Kovach, Kristen
name: Loomis, Molly
name: Przybyla, Sarahmona
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 2002

description: An action-oriented community diagnosis (AOCD) is a dynamic and complex type of research project in which an assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of a community is conducted in order to gain an understanding of the community from the perspective of those that live and work there, and to help identify future directions for that community. In October 2001, five Master of Public Health students in the Department of Health Behavior and Health Education at the University of North Carolina (UNC) were assigned to conduct an AOCD in Sanford, North Carolina, in partial fulfillment of course requirements for HBHE 241. Two preceptors were selected to serve as advisors, both of whom were employees of Lee County Health Department. The focus of the AOCD was to be the city of Sanford in general, and the African American community within Sanford in particular. This AOCD document attempts to tell Sanford’s story, to elucidate important issues and concerns among community members and service providers. The purpose of this report is to describe the functioning of the Sanford community, including the interactions, experiences, concerns, current strengths and assets of the community as well as the challenges faced by the community. The document also presents the Sanford Community Diagnosis Team’s (SCDT) recommendations for future directions for the Sanford community in Lee County, North Carolina. Thus, this final report presents to the community a comprehensive assessment of the people who live and work in Sanford and is intended to be a resource for continued community discussion about identified priorities to improve the health and quality of life of Sanford residents. The community diagnosis of Sanford began in October 2001 and concluded in late April 2002. To gain an understanding of the community, the SCDT reviewed secondary data sources, participated in and observed community events, and conducted interviews and focus groups with community members and service providers. As they learned more about the community, the SCDT 4 began to separate individuals into two groups: “insiders” and “outsiders”. Insiders are those who have lived and worked in Sanford for a significant amount of time, who display understanding of community dynamics, and who identify with one or more communities in Sanford. Outsiders are defined as those who work in Sanford but live elsewhere, or who have only lived in Sanford for a limited amount of time. Through interviews and focus groups, SCDT recruited both insiders and outsiders to help plan a community forum, where the salient themes from the qualitative data could be presented to the community. The community forum, entitled “Town Talk: Sanford Town Meeting”, was held on April 23, 2002. The main themes that were presented and discussed include: education; recreation and youth activities; crime and housing, growth, employment and economics, and transportation; and race relations. This document presents background information on Sanford, a summary of the methods used by the SCDT to collect and analyze data, the main themes that emerged from that data (both insiders’ and outsiders’ views, as well as a comparison of the two), and recommendations for future directions for the community of Sanford.