Local survey results: Low incomes, worse health linked

0

WILMINGTON — Local public health leaders said Wednesday a professionally conducted survey shows residents living with low incomes more likely to self-report they experience poor or fair health than did residents 65 and older.

Clinton County Health Commissioner Pamela Bauer and local community health advocate Pat King reviewed a fall 2015 community health needs report in front of the county commissioners.

In their presentation, the women said the survey indicates 17 percent of Clinton County residents self-reported they experience poor or fair overall health — the two lowest of five categories. Results from the survey concluded that among the low income locally, that figure is 27 percent.

For purposes of the Professional Research Consultants Inc.’s survey, “low income” included local households with incomes up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level.

Bauer noted that cancer ranked as the top cause of death in Clinton County between 2011 and 2013, at 24.6 percent. King, for her part, noted the report stated that Clinton County’s female breast cancer death rate is lower than the Ohio rate and similar to the U.S. rate.

When looking at the data and trends for breast cancer nationally, people can see the positive results of “a proactive aggressive breast health awareness” and with helping women access mammography, said King.

On the other hand, she’s not pleased about local numbers on cervical cancer, which she called “the most curable cancer there is.”

“And it really makes me mad that we have a rate that’s double the United States and Ohio. And that is a total access issue. For whatever reason, women are not getting in and getting their Pap smears and getting it taken care of. Because from an abnormal Pap smear, you can cure cervical cancer in a heart beat.

“There’s no reason we should have that issue in this county, except for access,” King added.

The News Journal previously reported on the 255-page Community Health Needs Assessment Report. Please visit http://clintoncounty.healthforecast.net for the full report.

In another matter, Clinton County Municipal Court Judge Michael Daugherty, recently elected to that bench, spoke with commissioners about the court’s 2016 budget.

An increase in court costs of $15 a ticket was made to eliminate a deficit, he said, as well as to provide enough funds to give staff “a well-deserved raise.”

The one prior raise the staff received during the past eight years or so, said Daugherty, was a 2 percent raise in 2014.

“So we did a 5 percent increase for staff, excluding judge and magistrate. That’s all absorbed in that $15 increase in court costs,” added the judge.

In other Board of Clinton County Commissioners news:

Commissioners re-appointed three people to local boards: Mike Miller and David Hackney will remain on the Clinton County Zoning Board of Appeals, both with five-year terms; and Melody Waldman will return to the Clinton County Regional Airport Authority for a five-year term.

Jeff D. Walls, coordinator of the Clinton County Solid Waste District, spoke with commissioners about a number of Ohio EPA community grants. In Clinton County, three townships and three villages are the recipients: Adams Township, Clark Township and Jefferson Township, along with the Villages of Midland, Port William and Sabina.

The Clinton County Solid Waste District will provide matching dollars to go toward those clean-up grants, he said.

Reach Gary Huffenberger at 937-556-5768 or on Twitter @GHuffenberger.

Clinton County Solid Waste District Jeff Walls speaks Wednesday about six Ohio EPA community grants in the county.
http://aimmedianetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/22/2016/02/web1_walls_p_f.jpgClinton County Solid Waste District Jeff Walls speaks Wednesday about six Ohio EPA community grants in the county.

From left, Clinton County Municipal Court Clerk of Court Sarah Avey and Clinton County Municipal Court Judge Michael Daugherty meet with county commissioners on the court’s 2016 budget.
http://aimmedianetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/22/2016/02/web1_avey_p_f.jpgFrom left, Clinton County Municipal Court Clerk of Court Sarah Avey and Clinton County Municipal Court Judge Michael Daugherty meet with county commissioners on the court’s 2016 budget.

Pat King
http://aimmedianetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/22/2016/02/web1_king_p_f.jpgPat King

By Gary Huffenberger

[email protected]

No posts to display