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Local News

Report measures health of Barry County community, public invited to comment

Everyone wants to be healthy, but, unfortunately, some of us aren't, something that the Barry Eaton District Health Department (BEDHD), Spectrum Health Pennock (SHP) and other Barry County organizations and coalitions are working hard to change. The health department and SHP partnered to develop a Community Health Needs Assessment for Barry County, according to a BEDHD news release.

 

The report, with a summary of key findings and additional data supplement, is available to the public and can be accessed online at the following website: http://bit.ly/2ggRhuW.

The report measures factors that go beyond health care and considers what causes people to be healthy, or not, in the first place. It looks at how healthy we are, what health conditions we suffer, and the root causes of those health problems.

 

Key findings are:

* Social conditions promoting health vary widely. Minorities, low income, or those otherwise vulnerable, are often less healthy than people who aren’t in vulnerable groups.

 

* Many Barry County residents are living with and dying from chronic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes and cancer.

 

* Substance abuse and mental health conditions are common, difficult to properly treat, and drive other health problems.

 

* People still think of health care first when they think of health, but they also recognize the importance of social conditions, such as unemployment, poverty, and the costs and availability of housing and transportation.

 

Approximately 40 community members and organization representatives reviewed the results of the report in February and developed a set of priority health issues based on the report.  The priorities include chronic disease, mental health, obesity, smoking and tobacco use and opportunities for physical activity.

 

Community involvement is vital for an effective health assessment and improvement project, the release said. The public is encouraged to visit https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/BarryCHNA and submit their feedback on the report.

Those interested in becoming part of the health improvement planning efforts can learn more at http://bit.ly/2ggRhuW.//

 

 “Now that the priority health needs and root causes of those problems have been identified, we can develop plans to improve health across the whole Barry County community,” said Susan Peters, BEDHD Health Analyst. Spectrum Health Pennock, the BEDHD and other community organizations are already using the assessment to focus their health improvement efforts.

 

By moving in the same direction, local organizations can maximize their impact on the problems, allowing community coalitions, including the B. Healthy Coalition, the Barry County Tobacco Reduction Coalition and the Access to Care Workgroup, to make great strides in previous work addressing health issues in Barry County.

 

 

 

 

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