ASPPH Presents: Community Assessment for Public Health Emergency Response (CASPER) and the Development of Collect SMART: Survey Management and Response Tools for Assessing the Health of Your Community

ASPPH, in collaboration with the CDC Office of Public Health Preparedness in Response, will host “Community Assessment for Public Health Emergency Response (CASPER) and the development of Collect SMART: Survey Management and Response Tools for assessing the health of your community” on Tuesday, July 28 at 3 PM ET.

Validated methods for assessing the health of one’s community before or after disasters is an important part of public health preparedness and response. Community Assessment for Public Health Emergency Response (CASPER) is a versatile data collection method that can be implemented to rapidly assess community health needs following a disaster or to assess community preparedness. Collecting accurate, high quality primary data using CASPER can require technical expertise. Local public health agencies and other community organizations may not have this expertise or equipment and may require outside support from federal or state agencies or academic partners.

This webinar will describe a collaborative effort between the CDC-funded UNC PERLC, a local health department in North Carolina, and preparedness staff in Texas to overcome some of these barriers through the development and pilot testing of mobile data collection software and training materials. The Collect SMART tools and trainings are designed to facilitate the implementation of validated sampling methods without requiring extensive technical expertise and to serve as a reliable way for public health professionals to conduct rapid health assessments. The tools and trainings cover the steps of field data collection including forming a survey team, team management, field safety, interview techniques, questionnaire design, sample selection, field survey methods, data collection/analysis and reporting.

Presenters/Speakers:

• Matthew Simon, MA, University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health, Preparedness and Emergency Response Learning Center (UNC PERLC)
• David Zane, MS, Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Section, Division for Regional & Local Health Services, Texas Department of State Health Services
• Michael Zelek, MPH, Chatham County Public Health Department, NC

Learning Objectives:

1. Describe the purpose of Community Assessment for Public Health Emergency Response (CASPER).
2. Provide examples of how CASPER has been used for post-disaster assessments and routine community health needs assessments.
3. Discuss the mobile app and project management dashboard designed to expand local capacities to collect community health data.

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