Santa Barbara County Public Health Department embarks on data collection in Santa Maria to better understand community health needs

SANTA MARIA, Calif. -- The Santa Barabara County Public Health Department, Cottage Health, and Dignity Health will embark on a three-day-long effort of data collection from the Santa Maria community to better understand health needs.

“We're very excited to be here specifically in the city of Santa Maria, to learn more about where this community stands and what really is at the forefront of their minds when thinking of their health needs", said Santa Barbara County Public Health, Public Information Officer Jackie Ruiz.

After the COVID-19 pandemic, public health organizations said they wanted to take initiative and find out what the health needs of the community were.

“Our survey includes a number of different questions regarding different aspects of health everything from access to health care to neighborhood safety to the COVID-19 pandemic", said Ruiz.

“The Public Health Department really wants to learn the impact of COVID in this area, knowing that we've had more cases, more deaths, and just generally more impacts due to this pandemic", said data collector Michelle Wehmer.

Households will be chosen randomly to participate in this data collection effort. Trained data collectors wearing vests and nametags will be walking neighborhoods throughout Santa Maria to gather a representative sample of surveys.

“Collecting data in Santa Maria is important because we want to hear the voices and the stories of those that live in this community", said Wehmer.

All responses will be confidential and will not be connected to names, addresses, or phone numbers. No personal financial information will be collected for this needs assessment. 

“We're really hoping to get a snapshot of what's happening here in the city of Santa Maria and make a plan and work together with the community to ensure that health needs are met", said Ruiz.

Data collectors will be bilingual in English and Spanish and will have access to translation for other languages as needed.