During the internship, all interns were required to meet with the internship coordinator on Fridays. The purpose of these meetings were to provide updates and share what tasks were accomplished during the week. The meetings also allowed the heads of the organization to provide feedback and offer assistance if needed. Additional meetings also occurred with the executive director of the organization to help develop questions for the three surveys that were distributed. Additional email communication between the executive director also occurred throughout the internship as more questions developed, and to better understand the information the organization would require.
The first step in creating the evaluation report was to gather data about Bell and Coryell County from state and local public health website. This information provided statistics about the cities located within the counties including ethnicity, median income, and average age of the residents. Information about schools and the school districts that serve these communities was included in the report as well. Finally, health information such as the prevalence of chronic illnesses and food scarcity was provided in the report. This information is useful to the organization because if provides a reason for expansion into the two counties. Not only that, but it also familiarizes the organization with the two counties and the cities that reside in there.
The second step was the development of three surveys that were then distributed to the residents of Coryell and Bell County. The surveys were to gauge the interest of the community, parents, and teachers about the programs HealthStart Foundation provides. After meeting with the executive director and intern coordinator, a draft of each survey was created based on the needs of the organization an example of the survey drafts is included in the agency report which is available under appendix II. Upon approval from the executive director, the surveys were created using survey pro and then distributed to previously identified teachers and community members. The surveys were also distributed on social media sites, like Facebook and Facebook groups targeting parents, the community, and teachers. Communication with the administrators of these groups occurred in order to obtain permission to display the flyer occurred. These administrators and groups were also included on the community contact list for the foundation. Finally, a flyer was created that provided a QR code link to the survey, which was then distributed to various businesses within Bell and Coryell County. The flyer helped raise awareness of the organization and the survey. This also helped to identify more possible organizations that could cooperate with the organization. An example of the flyer is included in the agency report under appendix II. An additional purpose of the survey was feedback from teachers about their HEY! Curriculum. This information was of importance to the organization because they can make adjustments to the program as needed. The community interest survey and parent survey also provided the organization with feedback about barriers to food access and the current quality of their children’s health education curriculum.
While waiting for the results of the survey, two contact sheets that provide locations HealthStart can contact for future partnerships was created and is available in the agency report in appendix II. These lists provide the name of the establishment, locations of the business, and job title of possible points of contact. An additional contact list, detailing information about the schools in each school district for both counties was compiled and is included in the agency report found on appendix II. The list for the schools provided information such as title one status, administration, and contact persons. Upon completion of the list, some of the businesses and schools were contacted about future partnerships. This list also gauged the different community capacities that each town had available, such as recreation centers, day cares, and other nonprofit services.
Finally, on the last week of the internship the surveys were closed and the data from the results was generated. The results of the surveys were generated into graphs and used to create three different reports for the organization. The graphs were included in the final report along with the write in answers from the participants. A copy of each of the three reports is included in the agency report in appendix II. The information from these surveys provides the organization with data to support an expansion into the two counties. In addition to community expansion the information from the parent and teacher survey can also be used to help persuade school districts into implementing HealthStart’s curriculum into their schools.
The information from the surveys demonstrated an interest in the programs provided by the HealthStart foundation in both Bell and Coryell County residents. The parent survey results demonstrated interest in the implementation of the Hey Curriculum and What are You Feeding labeling system in their children’s school. In addition, the parents believe that these programs would help their child academically, personally, and physically. Finally, they also indicated that their school is currently falling short in providing adequate health education.
The Teacher survey helped to demonstrate that the teachers currently employed in the school districts would like to add these programs into the schools they work at. They also provided the organization with new information, like time available to teach health education. This information was incredibly insightful and useful to the program director, which they plan to use to make adjustments in the future.
Finally, the community interest survey demonstrated a positive interest in the CHEWS workshop and would participate if it was available. They also demonstrated the communities’ opinions on health education and any perceived barriers to healthy food. Although, many of the respondents determined that there were not barriers to health food, they did indicate that health education was important.
Based on the results from the three surveys Bell and Coryell County were identified as great candidates for future expansion for the HealthStart Foundation. Their programs were met with positive interest, from parents, teachers, and community members. Not only that, but their services would benefit the community due to the high rate of poverty, food insecurity, and prevalence of diabetes in the area. These two counties lack health education programs for children. The school district’s programs are also not as thorough in information and fail to provide education that would generate behavioral changes.