COMMUNITY HEALTH NEEDS ASSESSMENT (CHNA)
overview
As part of the 2020 CHNA, 1200 Ottawa County adult residents participated in the Behavioral Risk Factor Survey and 346 vulnerable and underserved residents participated in the Underserved Resident Survey. Further, 9 Key Stakeholders (Hospital Directors, Clinic Executive Directors, etc.) were interviewed, and 123 Key Informants (physicians, nurses, dentists, pharmacists, social workers, etc.) participated in an online survey.
The overall objective of the CHNA is to obtain information and feedback from Ottawa County residents, health care professionals, and key community leaders in various industries and capacities about a wide range of health and health care topics to gauge the overall climate of Ottawa County.
Perception of General Health
Although over half of Ottawa County adults report very good or excellent health, 13.2% report fair or poor health; this proportion rises to 27.0% for underserved adults.
Opioid-Related Overdoses (2010-2020)
Top Priorities for 2020
In assessing the quantitative and qualitative data from the 2020 CHNA, it was clear to planning participants that the community should focus on the following areas for the Ottawa County community:
ACCESS TO CARE
MENTAL HEALTH
HEALTHY BEHAVIORS
ACCESS TO CARE
Underserved Adults Who Had Trouble Meeting Their Health Care Needs in Past 2 Years
Health Literacy
Navigating the Health Care System
A large majority (87.6%) of advantaged adults are at least somewhat confident they can successfully navigate the health care system.
79.6% of underserved adults are at least somewhat confident they can successfully navigate the health care system.
Completing Medical Forms
Underserved adults are also far less confident in completing medical forms compared to advantaged adults; 51.3% are very or extremely confident, compared to 80.3%, respectively.
Understanding Written or Verbal Information
The vast majority of all Ottawa County adults rarely or never have problems either (1) learning about their health condition because of difficulty understanding written information or (2) understanding written or verbal information provided by their health care provider.
3 in 10 (31.5%) underserved adults at least sometimes experience problems learning about their health condition because of difficulty understanding written information.
Reasons Underserved Adults Had Trouble Meeting Their Health Care Needs in Past 2 Years
Based on the 38.1% of respondents who replied that they were having issues meeting their healthcare needs
- Too Costly/Expensive 54.8%
- Lack of Health Insurance 33.9%
- Inability to pay deductibles/copay 31.5%
- Inability to afford prescription drugs 26.6%
- Provider doesn’t accept insurance 23.4%
- Transportation Issues 15.3%
- Couldn’t Get Appointment 12.1%
- Couldn’t Get Referral 8.1%
- Inconvenient Office Hours 4.0%
- Not comfortable with any doctor 3.2%
- Lack of physician specialists 2.4%
- Language/racial/cultural barrier 2.4%
- Other 4.0%
%
Adults that are at least somewhat confident they can successfully navigate the health care system
%
Underserved Adults that are at least somewhat confident they can successfully navigate the health care system
Mental Health
%
OF ADULTS REPORTED EXPERIENCING MILD TO SEVERE PSYCHOLOGICAL DISTRESS
Roughly one in six (15.3%) area adults report poor mental health; this is almost twice the proportion in 2017.
One in twenty (4.9%) area adults have thought about taking their own life in the past year. Of these, one in five have actually attempted suicide in the past year.
Compared to adults, more than three times as many youth (18.5%) have thought about suicide and nearly twice as many (36.8%) have attempted it in the past year; these rates have not improved from 2017.
HEALTHY BEHAVIORS
%
Obese or Overweight Ottawa County Adults
%
Ottawa County Adults who received advice from a healthcare professional regarding their weight
PHYSICAL ACTIVITY
More than eight in ten (83.6%) area adults participate in leisure physical activity outside of their job and more than half (51.9%) engage in muscle-strengthening activities. Both of these rates are better than the rates in 2017.
Roughly half of Ottawa County youths engage in inadequate amounts of physical activity, which means they fall below the threshold of being active for 60 minutes or more at least five days per week.
%
of Adults Engage in No Leisure-Time Physical Activity
%
Adults consume vegetables less than one time per day
%