Academic, Health Institutions Tackle Five Hot Topics at CARE4Kane Symposium
How can we best use the vast academic resources in Kane County to forge connections for data-driven decisions?
That’s one of the questions asked and answered at the second meeting of CARE4Kane Symposium held Monday, April 25, at the Aurora Police Department.
CARE stands for Community Action Research and Evaluation, and Monday’s symposium was an opportunity for community partners and university faculty and students to explore common interests, such as database analysis, surveys, program evaluation and research.
Five presentations given Monday aim to find potential solutions to hot-button issues that were brought out at a previous meeting in October:
- Development of an Animal Control Emergency Plan
- Impact of the Built Environment on child nutrition and physical activity among WIC (Woman and Children) participants
- Kane County Jail data analysis
- Promoting the use of shelter animals for empathy training for juvenile offenders
- Analysis and health brokering
One result of Monday’s meeting was to create a website portal that will go live in August.
Forty-six people attended Monday’s symposium, representing Northern Illinois University, Aurora University, Loyola University, Waubonsee Community College, Benedictine University and Northeastern Illinois University, Advocate Sherman Hospital, Presence St. Joseph, Northwestern Medicine-Central DuPage Hospital, local school districts and county departments.
The next CARE4Kane Symposium will be Sept. 23. For more information, please contact Kane County Health Department Executive Director Barbara Jeffers at jeffersbarbara@co.kane.il.us
- FEATURE PHOTO CAPTION: KCHD Assistant Director for Community Health Michael Isaacson addresses the symposium Monday.
Visit the Kane Health Counts Website
The Kane Health Counts website is intended to help community members and policy makers learn about the health of the community. It provides local health data, resources, best practices, news articles and information about Kane County. In keeping with Kane County Health Department’s mission and values, it is important that the site provides balanced information on a broad range of topics affecting the health of our community and highlights the assets in our community.
Kane Health Counts brings non-biased data, local resources and a wealth of information to one, accessible, user-friendly location. The intent is to give our community the tools we need to understand the public health indicators that affect the quality of our residents’ lives. The tools can also help the community set goals and evaluate progress. Community residents, community groups, schools, health associations, social service agencies, chambers of commerce, tourism and many other organizations can use this information to show the great benefits of living in Kane County as well as opportunities for improvement. Master planners and government can use this data to establish community goals on a variety of platforms. The data is updated whenever source data is updated, providing the most up-to-date information of its kind.
For more information, visit www.kanehealth.com.
About the Kane County Health Department
In active partnership with our community, the Kane County Health Department improves the quality of life and well-being of all residents by developing and implementing local policies, systems, and services that protect and promote health, and prevent disease, injury and disability. Visit the Health Department’s Facebook Page and sign up for the award-winning “Health Matters” newsletter.
