16
Sep
2015
The Quad City Health Initiative, Genesis Health System, UnityPoint Health-Trinity, Community Health Care, Inc., Rock Island County Health Department and Scott County Health Department, are pleased to share their findings from the 2015 Quad Cities Community Health Assessment. The assessment and associated documents are available for viewing and download at http://quadcities.
This Community Health Assessment is a systematic, data-driven approach to determining the health status, behaviors and needs of residents in the Quad Cities Area. The study is a follow-up to similar studies conducted since 2002. This study is innovative for its alignment of methodology between the local health providers and public health systems.
The 2015 Community Health Assessment included a telephone survey of over 900 individuals in Scott and Rock Island counties, extensive secondary data analysis and the gathering of input and priorities from local community leaders. With funding provided by Genesis Health System and UnityPoint Health-Trinity, the partners hired Professional Research Consultants of Omaha, NE to conduct a survey, analyze data and provide a comprehensive report. Additional secondary data analysis, stakeholder meetings and issue prioritization were administered by staff at the Rock Island and Scott County Health Departments with input from Community Health Care. Quad City Health Initiative staff facilitated the assessment work across the partnering organizations.
The integrated process met the assessment reporting requirements of the Scott County and Rock Island County Health Departments as well as the assessment requirements for Genesis Health System and UnityPoint Health-Trinity as established by the Affordable Care Act. The assessment was designed to have wide benchmarking potential at the state and national levels, as well as to Healthy People 2020 targets.
"As members of the Quad City Health Initiative, our health organizations have a long history of partnering together. This is our fourth comprehensive community health assessment conducted since 2002 and in each cycle we've honed a process that is efficient and respectful of community stakeholders' time while also being effective in providing critical data for our community health improvement partners," says Nicole Carkner, Executive Director of the Quad City Health Initiative.
"We were one of the first communities in our region to successfully integrate health system and public health assessment processes," says Nita Ludwig, Administrator for the Rock Island County Health Department. "The comprehensive assessment provides data for the entire Quad Cities region that can be used by our community partners to improve the health of all Quad Citians."
"Our assessment process provides the foundation for greater alignment in developing community health improvement plans and recognizes the critical role of all community sectors in creating a healthy community," continues Ed Rivers, Director for the Scott County Health Department.
The 2015 Quad Cities Community Health Assessment identified some improvements in community health status since the prior assessments. Notably, a higher percentage of children have visited a dentist or dental clinic in the past year and fewer adults now smoke. In addition, the Quad Cities also fares better than the national average on selected indicators such as the percentage of adults who have health care insurance, low-weight births, and the percentage of adults and children who have had routine check-ups in the past year.
The findings of this study will be used to inform decisions and guide future efforts to improve health status and quality of life in our area. Issues identified in prior studies, such as the percentage of adults who have one or more risk factors for cardiovascular disease, continue to be a concern. "These findings renew the importance of addressing and promoting healthy behaviors such as healthy eating and active living," says Ken Croken, Vice President of Corporate Communications, Genesis Health System. "Although the Quad City Health Initiative has been responding to many of these challenges through its Be Healthy QC projects, we welcome this opportunity to highlight the importance of creating a culture that supports health and wellness."
One of the overarching themes of the assessment is that lower-income residents in the Quad Cities experience notably poorer health status including physical and mental health. "We understand that lower-income residents tend to have a higher prevalence of chronic disease but greater difficulty accessing healthcare," says Tom Bowman, CEO of Community Health Care, Inc. "It is very important for our community to understand how societal issues such as income and education levels translate to health status."
Qualitative input from community stakeholders also identified access to mental health care as a continuing priority for the Quad Cities. "Our community is at the forefront of developing integrated health care," says Pat Shouse, Vice President Community Advocacy, UnityPoint Health-Trinity. "Behavioral health and physical health are linked and we understand that we need to have an integrated approach. By having our primary and behavioral health providers working together and coordinating care with each other, there is an opportunity to better identify and provide for the total health needs for people and for our community."
Questions on the 2015 Community Health Assessment may be directed to the Quad City Health Initiative which will be working with the study sponsors to improve health status and quality of life through ongoing projects and community assessments. Please see our website for more information: www.qchealthinitiative.org.
