Page 34 - Flathead Beacon // 1.27.16

BUSINESS MONTHLY
Mental Health Care, A ordability Key Ways to Improve Services 2016 Flathead County Community Health Improvement Program survey highlights residents’ priorities and needs in health care
BY MOLLY PRIDDY OF THE BEACON
The team behind the latest survey assessing the health care needs of Flat- head County has released preliminary results of their ndings, with strong indications that access to care and the cost of care are still roadblocks for many residents.
The needs assessment is part of the Flathead County Community Health Program, a partnership among the Flat- head City-County Health Department, North Valley Hospital in White sh, and Kalispell Regional Healthcare. Its pur- pose is to identify strategies to address the community’s most signi cant health care needs, in accordance with the public.
So far, the preliminary results show that most of the survey respondents thought the county could improve the community’s access to health care with more primary care providers, expanded hours at outpatient services, and more health education services.
Hillary Hanson, deputy health o - cer for Flathead County, said the needs identi ed in the assessment were largely unchanged from the survey conducted three years ago, but more respondents are now citing transportation to and from health services as a major factor.
“I don’t think we directly dealt with transportation in the last one and that came up this time,” Hanson said. “I think we may look at transportation slightly di erently.”
That means looking at other modes of transportation, she said, such as walk- ing and biking accessibility. Not only are those aspects important to a communi- ty’s economic base – “There’s a huge eco- nomic bene t,” she said – but it can also open up access in general.
Hanson said there’s no need to make the conversation about turning every- one into a marathon runner or cyclist,
but rather having discussions about accessibility.
“We’re literally talking about your grandmother being able to walk to the grocery store to get groceries,” she said.
Concerns about a lack of mental health care continue to creep up the list of importance, with mental health issues ranking fourth on respondent’s lists of health concerns. The rst is alcohol and substance abuse, followed by obesity, then cancer.
Hanson said there are issues with access to care, but also with the stigma around mental illness. The discussion around mental health needs restructur- ing to be more inclusive, she said.
Cost continues to be a factor in people’s
health care decision. Of the 161 residents surveyed, 58, or 36 percent, said either they or a member of their household thought they needed health care services, but didn’t get it or delayed in getting it.
The top three reasons given for such delays are prohibitive cost, not having insurance, and insurance not covering the visit.
More than 65 percent of the respon- dents reported receiving routine health checkups, and of the desired health care services they want to see in the Flat- head, Ask a Nurse services, which allows people to call in with health questions, received the most attention, with nearly 44 percent.
But even knowing all the
services already available to residents is a challenge.
“A lot of what keeps coming out is underutilization of services. We have [services and programs] out there, and people aren’t connecting to them,” Han- son said. “Even amongst ourselves as providers in the community, I don’t know that we always have the full pic- ture. There’s a real need for community collaboration.”
The nal survey results will be avail- able once all of the public meetings on the results have been held. The group behind the survey will meet on Jan. 29 to look at the responses from the community before nalizing the plan.
mpriddy@ atheadbeacon.com
2016 HEALTH ASSESSMENT SURVEY PRELIMINARY RESULTS
3.4
Flathead County’s average rating on quality of health services on a scale of 0 to 4
TOP THREE HEALTH CONCERNS
51.6%
Percentage of respondents who believe Flathead County is a somewhat healthy place to live
#1 ALCOHOL/ SUBSTANCE ABUSE
67.7%
#2 OBESITY 37.3%
#3 CANCER 33.5%
36%
Percentage of respondents who needed health care but didn’t get it or delayed getting it
58.6%
Percentage of people who said they delayed health services due to prohibitive costs
5.6%
Percentage of respondents who believe mental health services in the county are excellent
INFOGRAPHIC BY STEVE LARSON
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JANUARY 27, 2016 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM