The Health of the Santa Barbara County Community WHAT IS OUR COMMUNITY S CURRENT HEALTH? WHAT ARE PRIORITY AREAS TO FOCUS FOR IMPROVEMENT? HOW CAN WE IMPROVE HEALTH IN OUR COMMUNITY?
What is Health? Health is more than the absence of illness, disease or disability. Health looks at the whole person including our physical, mental, social, and spiritual well-being. Community Health Disadvantages People who live in communities with more disadvantages have poorer health outcomes. Page 1
How did we Assess the Community s Health? Surveyed over 3,000 adults from all geographic areas of our county, in English and Spanish, through electronic and hard copy formats. AND Gathered and analyzed various sources of data about our residents. Page 5
Who Completed the Survey? 3,003 respondents Three quarters were female 65% white, 46% Latino Included indigenous from Mexico Page 5
Age of Survey Respondents
What is the Status of their Health? Opinions of Overall Wellness: N=2967 122, 4% 30, 1% 266, 9% 568, 19% 1188, 40% 793, 27% Excellent Very Good Good Fair Poor Very Poor Based on self-reports of height and weight, BMI was calculated. 37% were in the healthy BMI range, 33% were in the overweight category and 28% were in the obese category. Page 6
What Health Insurance Do They Have? 59% had employer-base health insurance 15% had Medi-Cal 8% had Medicare 7% reported no insurance 6% had private insurance 2% had two or more insurances Page 8
What are their Health Priorities? For individuals, their households, and the larger community, their responses were similar The priorities listed in the top four for all were: regular exercise, healthy eating/obesity mental healthcare housing PAGE 11
Individual Health Priorities
Household Health Priorities Household Health Priorities: CHA Survey, N = 2422 Healthy Eating Habits Regular Exercise 95, 4% 88, 4% 72, 3% 50, 2% 27, 1% 10, 1% Housing Mental Healthcare 103, 4% Clean Living 127, 5% 920, 38% Health Insurance Sufficient Food 172, 7% Neighborhood Safety Quit Smoking 758, 31% Substance Abuse Counseling Domestic Violence Support
Community Health Priorities County Health Priorities: CHA Survey, N = 2628 Regular Exercise Housing 46, 2% 43, 2% 42, 2% 24, 1% 22, 1% 19, 1% 11, 0% Obseity Mental Healthcare 52, 2% 8, 0% Sufficient Food Health Insurance 69, 3% 76, 3% 567, 22% Neighborhood Safety Substance Abuse Counseling 78, 3% Family Planning Clean Living 213, 8% Diabetes Quit Smoking 252, 10% 423, 16% Immunizations Heart Disease Oral Health Cancer 304, 12% 379, 14% Dementia Domestic Violence Support
Why is Healthy Eating and Active Living a Priority? Health eating and physical activity are the building blocks to healthy development and a lifetime of good health Food is essential to our physical health, development in children, maintaining immune systems, and our energy. All ages can improve the quality of their lives through a lifelong practice of moderate physical activity. A poor diet combined with physical inactivity can result in obesity. Obesity contributes to many health problems Page 14
Why is Mental Healthcare a Priority? Mental and emotional wellbeing is essential to overall health There is a strong connection between mental health and physical health. People experiencing emotional distress often cope with behaviors that result in poorer health Improvement in mental health improves the quality of life of an individual and their relationships in the community. Page 17
Why is Safe Housing a Priority? Health and health problems are directly related to living in healthy and safe home environments The cost of housing directly impacts household income available for other subsistence needs Instability due to foreclosures, eviction and living in others homes all negatively impact mental health Exposure to toxins such as lead, radon, molds and extreme temperatures affects physical health Page 19
What do we Know about Serious Health Conditions? Unintentional falls are the leading cause of non-fatal injuries in both Santa Barbara County and in California Cancer is a leading cause of death in Santa Barbara County and across the nation In the past two years, lung cancer was by far the most frequent cause of cancer deaths in Santa Barbara County Page 28
What are the Trends with Sexually Transmitted Diseases? Sexually transmitted diseases (chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis) have been rising significantly in SBC The majority of chlamydia cases are diagnosed in the female population. In 2015 Santa Barbara County experienced an especially large increase in gonorrhea, primarily in the male population. In the past three years the number of syphilis cases went from 9 to 35, mainly in males Page 36
What are Trends with Mothers and Infants? The rate of low birthweight babies is decreasing as is the rate of births to teenage mothers, and premature births Prenatal care begun in the first trimester is one of the highest rates among similar California counties Breastfeeding rates are high, particularly when compared with other WIC programs in California Page 42
What are the Main Causes of Death? Cancer and heart disease are by far the most common causes of death There are differences in the Hispanic versus White populations Accidental drug overdoses are increasing and they contribute to premature death and potential years of life lost Page 51
Where Do We Go From Here? What are priorities for improving the community health in SBC? What actions/activities could we as a community focus on to improve health? What would/could you as an organization contribute to improve the health of our community? Your feedback will inform our Community Health Improvement Plan.