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County health survey coming

By William Kibler

bkibler@altoonamirror.com

A local organization dedicated to promoting health will be mailing 3,000 surveys to randomly selected households this month to identify problems that if corrected would improve the well-being of county residents.

The Healthy Blair County Coalition conducts such a Community Health Needs Assessment every three years, in keeping with a requirement of the Affordable Care Act for non-profit hospitals like UPMC Altoona and Penn Highlands Tyrone.

Analysis of the survey results will eventually guide the coalition in forming committees and working groups to figure out how best to solve the biggest problems — an effort that following prior surveys has helped Blair County improve from 63rd to 39th healthiest in Pennsylvania over the past decade, according to the annual county rankings of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation,

The coalition comprises the non-profit hospitals plus Conemaugh Nason Medical Center in Roaring Spring, Van Zandt VA Medical Center, organizations under the UPMC umbrella, organizations related to county government, social service agencies, recreation groups, businesses and local governments.

In the past, coalition committees and work groups have focused on fitness, substance use, mental health, tobacco cessation, poverty, dental care, school attendance and early childhood education.

The coalition’s work is built around the recognition that 80% of health outcomes depend not on access to and quality of medical care, but on social and environmental determinants like economic status, education, housing, job status, neighborhood safety and the environment, indicated Anna Anna, president of Penn Highlands Tyrone in a news conference Monday at United Way of Blair County.

“We want the programs we work on to reflect what you want,” said Jan Fisher, president of UPMC Altoona, addressing Blair County residents.

“Please take the survey,” said Tim Harclerode, CEO of Conemaugh Nason.

The survey will go to households in all the county’s ZIP codes, according to coalition Director Coleen Heim.

Separate batches of surveys will go to faith-based organizations and service providers, and the results will be supplemented by interviews of 40 health care providers, Heim said.

Anyone can fill out a survey, although the coalition will segregate the random survey results from the results of the rest, Heim said.

Poverty, obesity, access to mental health treatment and access to dental care were among topics that got the most attention in the last survey, conducted in 2018, Harclerode said.

If a problem rises to the top, and the coalition — or some other group — isn’t working on it already, the coalition generally creates a group to take it up, Heim said.

When survey results show that a major problem is the province of one group, based on gender, age and race, for example, the coalition can better target its efforts, Heim said.

Collaboration among coalition partners is key, according to Heim and Fisher.

Before the coalition, organizations dealing with the kinds of problems identified in the surveys tended to work “in silos,” much less effectively, Fisher said.

With cooperation, there is a variety of additional expertise and a broader dispersal of benefits, Fisher said.

In dealing with obesity, various health care providers and other employers organized weight loss competitions, leading to lots of pounds shed, Harclerode indicated.

In dealing with fitness deficits, similar competitions led 393 people to walk 183 million steps in eight weeks recently, Heim said.

Cooperation that included UPMC, local dentists and Head Start of Blair County led to creation of a dental clinic that has provided a dental home and needed screenings for children previously lacking such, officials said.

Among questions on the survey:

n What is best about Blair County? Friendly neighbors; good schools; safety; proximity of medical facilities; cultural activities; proximity of employment?

n What is worst about Blair County? Unsafe neighborhoods; youths with nothing to do; litter; racism; drug use?

n What are issues of concern with economics? Unemployment; poverty; lack of jobs; lack of qualified employees?

n What are educational issues of concern? Lack of affordable post-high school opportunities; violence: bullying; availability of drugs and alcohol in schools?

n What are environmental issues of concern? Loss of farmland; dumping and littering?

n What are health issues of concern? Alcohol and drug abuse; smoking; mental illness; diabetes; obesity; heart disease?

n What are housing issues of concern? Shortage of affordable housing; substandard housing; lack of housing for people with disabilities; lack of housing for young families, the elderly, professionals and downsizing families?

n What are leisure issues of concern? Not enough recreational venues; lack of cultural activities; not enough youth activities?

n What are safety issues of concern? Crime; gun violence, family violence; DUIs?

n What are social issues of concern? Teen pregnancy; discrimination; gambling, lack of affordable day care; homelessness; suicide; overuse of social media; pornography?

There are questions about adequacy of public transportation, joblessness, anxiety and depression, lack of health insurance and high deductibles; and questions about the effects of COVID-19.

The upcoming survey will be the fifth the coalition has conducted.

The report based on survey results will be available next spring, according to Heim.

Even before completion of the report, the coalition will have begun to form new committees and work groups as necessary, she said.

The survey will be available on the coalition website, according to Heim.

On the website, the coalition invites residents to “get involved” in other ways, including by participation in and promotion of initiatives like Let’s Move Blair County, the Active Living Steps Challenge and the Rural Impact County Challenge.

Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.

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