A new survey has identified Montgomery County’s top health issues and the groundwork is being laid to improve the community’s standings.
The Montgomery County Health Needs Assessment Survey, conducted this summer by the wellness coalition and the health department, ranks substance and alcohol abuse, poverty, chronic and communicable disease, mental health and suicide, child abuse and neglect and food insecurity and transportation as the most important areas to be addressed.
With the results in, the health department has turned back to the public to narrow the list down and develop a five-year action plan for tackling the issues.
“We’re going to continue with this conversation. It won’t end here,” said Artie Equihua, a senior fellow at the Wabash Democracy and Public Discourse initiative, during a community forum at the Crawfordsville District Public Library.
The college partnered with the health department to help prioritize the top three issues that will frame the action plan.
A group of health professionals, volunteers and students gathered in the library’s basement Monday to discuss the survey results.
“It’s like putting the pieces of the puzzle together,” said Susan Hampton, a registered nurse, noting how the issues are connected to one another.
An average 303 people visited the emergency department for non-fatal drug overdoses in 2018, ranking Montgomery County 71st of Indiana’s 92 counties for overdose-related hospital trips.
In this summer’s survey, more than seven-in-ten residents were not aware of some of the community’s latest addiction treatment programs.
“There’s a lot more of a problem than we ever thought,” Leslie Hatch, a Pam’s Promise Transitional Housing board member, said.
The county ranks near the bottom half in the state for poverty, according to figures provided by the health department.
The survey also sought input on chronic health issues and sexual behavior. Results showed 21% of respondents said they received chronic care in the past year.
Slightly more reported talking about sexual health in their household, but 92% of respondents said they did not use protection against sexually transmitted diseases with a new sexual partner.
The findings also shed new light on mental health in Montgomery County.
Three-in-ten respondents indicated feeling depressed, lonely or isolated. The ratio of population to mental health providers was 1,010 to 1 in 2018, ranking the county 28th in the state.
The survey found a high rate of parents struggling to raise their children. Nearly three-quarters of respondents identified parenting assistance programs as important services.
In 2017, there were 243 substantiated child abuse and neglect cases in Montgomery County, according to the health department.
Discussion at the forum also centered on the need for more volunteers at local food pantries. In 2017, 4,120 people were living with food insecurity in Montgomery County. There were 1,380 children without access to enough food.
Additional focus groups will be convened in the spring to continue discussions on local health needs.
