Date

12-2021

Document Type

Capstone Project (Open Access)

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science (B.S.)

Department

Health, Human Services and Public Policy

Major

Collaborative health and Human Services with a concentration in Social Work and Public Health

First Advisor

Thomas Rogers

Abstract

The Monterey County Health Department in the Planning Evaluation and Policy Unit (PEP), focuses on three areas; facilitating the implementation of the Health Department Strategic Plan, aligning and monitoring the department's performance standards. PEP has had an intern who noticed the needs of Monterey County residents facing barriers when accessing health and community resources. The Monterey County’s Population is at 444,732 and more than half of the population are people of color. With having such a diverse population there are a lot of barriers to consider when accessing health and community resources such as language barriers and navigating health insurance. The consequences of this are a shorter life span, receiving poor quality care and lack or no information which can lead to mistrust in the community. This capstone project will demonstrate some successes and challenges faced in the community by interviewing agencies and organizations on their experiences. Based on the interns' findings, language barriers and community engagement play an important role as to why many Monterey County residents are facing barriers when it comes to accessing health and community resources. The intern recommends organizations and agencies to do more community outreach to help engaging community residents and build a connection.

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