Morrisville, Wake County, NC : an action-oriented community diagnosis : findings and next steps of action
Creators: name: Schiepan, Joella
name: Park, Allison
name: Fazekas, Karah
name: Nelson, Elizabeth
name: Johnson, Marcus
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 2006

description: Action Oriented Community Diagnosis (AOCD) is a research method used to understand the social, economic, cultural, and health experiences of people living within a community. The purpose is to gain a perspective of community members’ life experiences from the viewpoint of both service providers and community members, while documenting both strengths and challenges faced by the community. The culmination of the AOCD process is a community forum during which the findings of the assessment are presented back to the community. Forum participants are given the opportunity to discuss issues of interest, form and build relationships with other community members and service providers, and generate action steps to create positive change within their community. From September 2005 through April 2006, a team of five students from the UNC School of Public Health completed an AOCD in the town of Morrisville, NC. Morrisville is a small, diverse town located adjacent to the Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU), Research Triangle Park (RTP), and the Town of Cary. The students gained entrée into the community with the help of their two preceptors: Regina Petteway, MSPH, Director of Community Initiatives Wake County Human Services and Benny Ridout, RPH, former mayor of Morrisville. During the eight months of the project, the student team attended Morrisville community events as participant observers, collected secondary data to learn more about the town’s history and demographics, and conducted thirty-seven interviews: sixteen with service providers; twenty-one with community members. Interview data were analyzed for themes, or reoccurring topics concerning the community. With the help of a community forum planning community, five themes were chosen for presentation to the community at a forum held on April 20, 2006 at the Fellowship Hall of First Baptist Church in Morrisville. At the community forum, participants were given the opportunity to learn and discuss the student team’s findings. After the student team explained to the large group the process of AOCD and presented the five themes for discussion, participants were given the opportunity to discuss one of these five themes presented in a smaller group. Each student team member led a small breakout session group to form action steps that positively addressed the theme. Below are the five themes discussed at the forum. The action lists formed during each small group discussion are available in the document sections devoted to each individual theme. Additionally seven additional themes identified during the community diagnosis were not discussed at the forum. Information regarding these themes is available in Appendix H. Community Identity —A defining characteristic of Morrisville’s identity is its ‘small town feel.’ As Morrisville grows, many express concern that this ‘small town feel’ is being lost. Growth —Many community members and services providers commented on the increasing growth within Morrisville and articulated their concern for a healthy balance between development and maintaining quality of life. Health Care Availability—Morrisville residents feel that they can access health care facilities in nearby towns. However, community members and service providers articulated a need for family practice services, emergency medical services, and county health programs in Morrisville. Intercultural Interactions —Community members and service providers expressed a desire for increased knowledge of, and interaction with different racial, ethnic, and cultural groups in Morrisville. Transportation —Community members and service providers see a need for improved road infrastructure to alleviate traffic congestion.