A new regional health assessment for Ingham, Clinton and Eaton counties has been released by Healthy! Capital Counties, a group of local organizations working together to improve health in the tri-county area.
The Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) is conducted every three years and provides insight into regional health trends.
There’s both good and bad news in the findings. Binge drinking is down among high schoolers. Opioid-related deaths decreased in Eaton and Ingham counties, and reports of adults experiencing poor mental health have also declined.
But areas of concern remain, including access to behavioral health services and housing.
Communications Specialist at the Barry-Eaton District Health Department Emily Smale says access to health care is also trending downward.
“One of those reasons is the cost of health care,” Smale said. “Even for folks who have insurance, a lot of times, cost is the barrier for them. But then there's also a level of availability of providers. One of the indicators in our report is about the ratio of providers to how many people are in the population, and we see that number continually being small.”
For this cycle, the assessment included an approach that factored in social determinants of health more than it had previously.
“Social determinants of health really influence every aspect of health,” Smale said. “Mental health is influenced by your housing and where you live. It's also influenced by where you work and how much you get paid. It's more of a lens that we look through to view health in this holistic way.”
The findings from this assessment will inform the next step for Healthy! Capital Counties—a community health improvement plan.
Produced with assistance from the Public Media Journalists Association Editor Corps funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people.
