undefined Walla Walla Trends Newsletter
  www.wallawallatrends.com Winter 2010
 
Interview with Harvey Crowder, Health Department Administrator

Walla Walla County's Health Department Administrator, Harvey Crowder, gives us his view of the Walla Walla Trends website - how he uses it and how he thinks the data can benefit the local residents and the community.

Q. How do public health officials use information like that found on the Walla Walla Trends site?
A. Information obtained from data on Walla Walla Trends helps a public health jurisdiction understand the demographics and forces of change in the community. This information is exceptionally important because it allows us to structure plans and programs to better fit community needs in the present and gives us patterns that we use to help scope the future of public health plans and programs

Q. The County Health Department currently has an initiative Mobilizing for Action through Planning & Partnerships (MAPP). Do you see a public health fit between MAPP and Walla Walla Trends?
A. Walla Walla Trends is complementary and supportive of your community assessment of public health needs. The use of information in Walla Walla Trends helps us understand the current economic and social status in the community and the forces of change that drive the community's development. Without the aggregation of data from Walla Walla Trends it would not be possible for us to even begin to have the depth of understanding of our community's status.

Q. How do you think the web site can generally be used by the residents of Walla Walla?
A. Walla Walla Trends provides an excellent resource for individuals and groups in the community that are seeking grants or opportunities for community engagement. The breadth and depth of data in the [website] provide data that can be used to look at community needs and the direction of change in various economic, demographic, and social categories. Using that data to add strength to grant applications or to structure programs helps ensure that funding agencies will provide support based upon community support by data.

Q. Taking off your professional hat, are you struck personally by any trends?
A. The most striking trend is that of children living in poverty. Walla Walla County rates are approximately 50% higher than Washington State's and 20% higher than the national rates. If we are to grow and provide a better quality of life in the community we have to focus on moving more families out of poverty.

Q. Any final comments about the future of Walla Walla Trends, MAPP or efforts like them?
A. Providing data and information about demographic, social, health, and economic issues allows communities to begin to focus on real needs and structure programs to prioritize and build programs to meet those needs. Without these types of consistent data individuals will try and prioritize community needs without understanding the overall status of the community resulting in expending monies that may or may not actually improve the overall wellbeing of the community.