Mercy Health survey to identify top health concerns

Mercy Health – Springfield is working to assess the data from its Community Health Needs Assessment survey, used to identify the top health concerns in both Clark and Champaign counties.

The assessment, which is done every three years, asks for input from the community about topics, such as local health resources, barriers to healthcare and gaps in service that impede overall health and a healthy lifestyle.

The survey collected responses from more than 200,000 individuals through agencies, community organizations, non-profit partners and healthcare providers have been collected through a link shared last fall, says Carolyn Young, Mercy Health – Springfield’s community health director.

This information, which is gathered by The Health Collaborative in Cincinnati, also gets reported to the Greater Dayton Area Hospital Association (GDAHA). Young says that while both organizations assess the data regionally, Mercy Health – Springfield is aware that the needs of the metro areas of Dayton and Cincinnati aren’t the same needs of Clark and Champaign counties.

“We have our own unique needs, so we partner with the Champaign County Health Department and the Clark County Combined Health District to do a different evaluation of the data for Clark and Champaign counties,” she says, adding that along with the survey data, information for the Census, the Ohio Department of Health and other medial resources help determine the final list of top health concerns for the area.

“It’s a pretty complex thing where we’re all working together to get correct information representing the community’s voice, and caring for what the community is telling us are the top needs,” Young says. “We want to be responsive to those top needs because that’s what we’re here for and that’s our mission – to be accessible and helpful to our community’s needs.”

The data for 2022 is currently being analyzed.

Once those areas are found, Young says a groups of community stakeholders meet to discuss contributing factors to the health concerns and develop action plans for making meaningful change to improve the issues the community is facing.

In 2019, chronic disease, maternal and infant health, and mental health and substance abuse were identified among the top health concerns, says Young.

“I’m thankful because even during a global pandemic my work didn’t stop,” she says. “So, what we’re seeing now as we start coming out of the pandemic is that those health care needs are greater than ever.”

Some of the steps taken in Clark and Champaign counties to address those issues, included:

• Chronic disease: “During the pandemic, we encouraged people to stay home to stay healthy and keep others healthy,” Young says. “But the flip side of that coin at this stage is that our screening numbers were down and people were not going to the doctor during the pandemic, so now we really need to make sure people are being screened.”
  
  Those screenings are what can help detect chronic diseases, and the doctor visits are what help people maintain those chronic diseases.
  
  Young shared the importance of screening for breast cancer, colorectal cancer, and lung cancer, which she says is the top cancer type among both counties because of the high rate of smoking.
  
  “When people are staying home and not getting screenings, that’s when we don’t catch things,” she says.
  
  Mercy Health – Springfield’s mobile mammography unit is out in the community at least two days a week, Young says, and the hospital is working with city and county leaders to try to overcome transportation issues that might be keeping people from getting to and from the healthcare they need.
  
  Mercy also has worked to increase its footprint across both Clark and Champaign counties to try to make healthcare more accessible. And, it added two walk-in clinics – one in Springfield and one in Urbana – to help patients get the care they need in a timely manner, she says.
   
• Maternal and infant health: A Start Strong Coalition – including Mercy, Rocking Horse Community Health Center, the Pregnancy Resource Clinic, and some physician practices, among other members – was formed after the 2019 survey, Young says. The group works to ensure mothers have access to the care and resources they need for both their own health and the health of their children.
  
  “We have made some really great connections with this collaborative,” Young says, adding that they are working to build a website that will be a home for mother and infant-specific community resources all listed together in one place.
   
• Mental health and substance abuse: The 2019 survey identified mental health needs and substance abuse issues of local communities as top areas of concern. And Young says that with the added stresses and isolating environment created by the pandemic, those concerns have only gotten worse.
  
  “We’re just starting to see the tip of the iceberg of the way mental health challenges will manifest in the community because of when everything shut down with the pandemic,” Young says. “But, thankfully we have some great resources leading the charge for mental health services in Clark County. We have Mental Health Recovery Board of Clark, Greene & Madison Counties and WellSpring and Rocking Horse, which all have expanded their capabilities, and Mercy has expanded our capabilities, too.”
  
  The local outreach programs that provide counseling services and support for substance abuse, including alcohol, cigarettes, and drugs, Young says.
  
  “They’re addressing the whole person, and people are getting the full-service treatment they need from a counseling perspective,” Young says.

The findings for the area’s top health needs of 2022 are expected to be made available by the fall of this year, Young says. Then, teams will start working on next steps to support the continued improvement of community health moving forward.