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LISBON -- The just released Community Health Needs Assessment for Columbiana County identified chronic disease, mental health, substance use and obesity as the top health issues affecting residents.
"These are all issues that we can work on together for a healthier community," county Health Commissioner Wes Vins said Wednesday.
The Columbiana County Health District board adopted the 2022 to 2025 CHNA/Community Health Assessment during the board meeting Wednesday night. Vins said other county health partners involved in the CHNA/CHA will be adopting the report also, noting that Salem Regional Medical Center already did.
Copies of the full report can be accessed at www.columbiana-health.org.
Vins explained there's a benefit to identifying the top health issues, saying that it helps the partners focus on the health issues that are most prevalent in the county.
"We relied on feedback from the community, health partners, the stakeholders, a survey and focus groups to objectively evaluate the health status and needs of the community. The health assessment is here for the community to utilize," Vins said.
Laura Fauss, public information officer for the county health district, announced the completion of the latest health assessment in a press release. She said the report is more than 100 pages of good data "which can be used by community groups, agencies and organizations to develop programs and apply for funding opportunities that will enhance the health of our community."
According to Fauss, the outcomes didn't change much from the last assessment, which was no big shocker, but there's a lot of data to back it up. In the press release, she said "primary data was collected through 31 stakeholder and focus group interviews, representing 106 participants; and 599 written surveys were completed by individuals from diverse groups within our county."
She also wrote that "secondary public health data about Columbiana County was also collected for the report from many sources, including the Ohio Department of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Healthy People 2039, County Health Rankings and a number of other reports and publications."
Death statistics from the Columbiana County Coroner were used also. For anyone looking for demographics about the county in any area, from income to poverty levels, to drugs, mental health, educational levels attained and health concerns, it's all there.
The Health Partners collaborative explained in the press release that the report was "designed to assess the health status and needs of the community; identify factors that affect population health; determine the availability of existing resources that can be mobilized to improve health status; and facilitate the development of evidence-based, population-wide interventions and measurable outcomes."
Health partners and other groups will use the results to develop community plans and programs to target the findings.
On behalf of all the health partners, Fauss urged residents to access the full report and use the information. In talking about the top health issues, chronic disease referred to cancer, diabetes, cardiac diseases and asthma, mental health included trauma, Adverse Childhood Experiences, depression and suicide, substance uses included tobacco, alcohol, drug use and youth perceptions and obesity included nutrition and physical activity.
Besides the county health district and SRMC, other health partners include the Salem and East Liverpool city health districts, East Liverpool City Hospital, Akron Children's Hospital, county Community Action Agency, county Educational Service Center, county Mental Health and Recovery Services Board, Coordinated Action for School Health, Family and Children First Council and Ohio State University-Extension.
In other business, the county health district board increased the mileage reimbursement for employees from 52 cents per mile to 58 cents per mile, appropriated an additional $50,000 from the carryover to the general fund, extended the H2Ohio bid jobs for Wind Turbine of Ohio by up to 90 days for septic system, sewer projects, revised the Lake County contract related to some work on the community needs assessment to reflect a reduction in cost from $6,531 to $5,561 and approved a distance requirements variance for Sam Bruce for a replacement water well on a property on Stuart Road, East Liverpool.
A variance for Michael Boyd on the water well distance requirement for a property in East Rochester was tabled. Vins reported that a recent liability insurance risk assessment visit turned out well, with no recommendations and even an offer for a $1,000 grant to use for safety items.
The next board meeting will be held at 4:30 p.m. Aug. 17.
mgreier@mojonews.com