The county is open for business and here to serve our community. More information
Community Engagement
Contact us
photo courtesy of W. Wright
Saint Paul – Ramsey County staff engaged more than 2100 residents from across Ramsey County between December 2017 and April 2018 to learn what helps individuals, families, and communities stay healthy and what keeps them from being healthy. These discussions with community residents were intended to update current understanding of resident health concerns and community needs. Overall themes (PDF)
Process
Full time and temporary staff connected with community residents at over 60 existing gathering spaces, meetings, and cultural events: including non-profit partners, libraries, schools and colleges, community centers, apartment buildings, food shelves and more. The process was designed to be a face-to-face conversation. Residents entered responses into an electronic or paper survey, if needed staff were available to record responses. To address potential language barriers, multi-lingual staff engaged residents in their primary language, including Hmong, Karen, Somali and Spanish. The survey asked for demographic information and six questions about individual, family and community health: for example What helps you stay healthy? and What keeps you from being healthy? Sixty percent of respondents were from under-represented communities, people usually not reached by surveys. These communities were selected to better understand the successes and challenges they face in maintaining health.
- Community outreach summary (PDF)
- Blank outreach survey (PDF)
Themes by population
Fact sheets based on population are available in PDF format.