FORT JACKSON, S.C. (March 19, 2015) -- One of Fort Jackson's top priorities is improving the quality of life. One of the many efforts taking place to fulfill that mission is the Fort Jackson Community Health Promotion Council, or CHPC.
The CHPC is focused on improving the health, resilience and the quality of life for Soldiers, families, veterans, retirees and civilians in the community. Army wide, CHPC's follow Army Regulation 600-63, Army Health Promotion and the Ready and Resilient Campaign, or R2C, to get the job done.
Fort Jackson's CHPC comprises four working groups that are focused on behavioral health (installation prevention team), physical health, spiritual resilience and family readiness.
The mission of the council is to identify redundancies and voids, evaluate community needs, assess existing programs and coordinate targeted interventions to optimize the well-being of the total force.
Each month, key leaders from across the installation come together to discuss areas of improvement and sustainment for the Fort Jackson community.
Erica Parks, the installation's health promotion officer, recently joined the Fort Jackson CHPC team to facilitate the council. Parks is a native of Georgia, an Army veteran and a public health practitioner.
"If you don't remember anything else about me remember that I care about people," Parks said. "My role within the CHPC is to help identify areas of redundancy, look at what the people of Fort Jackson need as a whole by reevaluating existing programs, and coordinate with key leaders to enhance the quality of life for the Fort Jackson community."
Parks said evaluating existing programs is a big part of her responsibility.
"When I was interviewed (for the job), one of the things I was asked about was my experience with evaluations," Parks said. "The need was for someone who could really evaluate what has been done to improve the quality of life for Soldiers, family members, retirees and civilians."
Parks explained that the CHPC team will conduct a Community Strengths and Themes Assessment Survey, which will gather information from Soldiers, retirees and family members to find out if they are aware of certain resources and, if so, how often are they used.
"This (survey) takes place every two years and will give us a better understanding from the community member's perspective on how effective some programs may or may not be," she said. "We will be at the Retiree Appreciation Days events May 16 to give out our survey and gather information that will truly pose to be a benefit to our analysis."
Parks said her plan is to get to know as many people on Fort Jackson as possible.
"We have to meet the people where they are. I intend to get out and meet with people, make sure they are aware of the programs that are available to them," she said.
Reaching out to community partners outside the gates is also important in the CHPC process, Parks said.
"Most of the offices we have here on post work regular (hours from) 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Most of the Soldiers and family members we support are at work during those hours, so we need to partner with some organizations outside our installation that can help us, help our Soldiers and family members during after hours," Parks said. "I want to make sure that we have a balance in the information and resources that we provide our community members."
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