leaders, Rockbridge County began to grow and prosper after the civil war. In 1867, the county added a third college, Southern Seminary, an institute of higher education for women located in Buena Vista. Southern Seminary is now known as Southern Virginia University.22 Clearly the early leaders of Rockbridge County valued education and understood it as a vital force necessary for sustainable growth. The Rockbridge Area MAPP Project is grounded in the premise that similar value should be placed on the protection and promotion of health for all community members. The data presented in this report reveals that all members of the Rockbridge area do not enjoy equal access to fundamental requirements of health such as education, health care, and quality food. “The problem is I can’t see…I can’t get any glasses…I’m a knowledge junkie, but I can’t read anymore.” ~MAPP focus group participant, 2012
The MAPP team hopes that this CHNA will help establish a common understanding of the relationship between social inequalities and the health status of the community. There is no cheap, quick or easy fix for the complex challenge of delivering health care in a rural community. The CHNA simply aims to inspire an ongoing collaborative planning, implementation, and evaluation process aimed at health equity.
We are made wise not by the recollection of our past, but by the responsibility for our future. ~George Bernard Shaw
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Southern Virginia University, http://svu.edu/about
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