WILMINGTON — A health survey conducted this summer as a follow-up to a comprehensive assessment of local health needs in 2015 reinforces the earlier responses, with substance abuse receiving the highest rating for scope and severity as well as highest priority for combating.
Ohio State University public health and sociology student Megan Borton, one of this summer’s Clinton Community Fellows and a WHS alumna, presented data and conclusions from the survey Tuesday at a board meeting of HealthFirst for Clinton County. At the meeting, HealthFirst board member Patricia “Pat” King suggested HealthFirst take a leadership role in bringing about a community-wide plan for approaching drug abuse.
HealthFirst of Clinton County is a $3.9 million community foundation which evolved from the former CMH Foundation, which was affiliated with Clinton Memorial Hospital until the public hospital sold to a for-profit entity in December 2010.
HealthFirst primarily is viewed as a board that gives grant money to support Clinton County organizations for projects and initiatives that promote the health and well-being of the area, King said.
But perhaps the role of HealthFirst with respect to the ongoing opiate scourge is to bring people together and “really look at solutions and maybe make a community plan for approaching substance abuse instead of having all of these silos operating [separately] on substance abuse,” King said.
HealthFirst perhaps could provide leadership to have people look at best practices in the United States and see what works “and maybe help people move toward those,” added King.
“It may mean going out there on a limb and doing something totally unique that combines best practices from everywhere that will give us some success,” King said.
Board member Kelsey Swindler liked the idea of HealthFirst providing leadership for a program or a common approach to looking at substance abuse.
She mentioned creating a culture that helps frame how people think about the problem “because I think that’s so critical.”
Other top health concerns locally such as heart disease, diabetes, nutrition and lung cancer are — like drug abuse — affected by a person’s choices, Swindler said.
The survey this summer had seven questions, and was promoted through Facebook, the News Journal, and through email to community boards. There were 56 respondents, said Borton, and ¼th of them work in the health care and public health sectors.
In addition to substance abuse, mental health was a problem area rated highly for scope and severity, ability to impact, and as something that needs to be prioritized.
Also of significance for the survey participants are: nutrition, physical activity and weight; diabetes; and heart disease and stroke.
Reach Gary Huffenberger at 937-556-5768.
