Community leaders discuss health issues
The Lee County Health Needs Assessment event, held by
"Your input is very valuable on the direction of the hospital for this community," said
"Community input is one of the biggest aspects of (this)," she said. "You have to talk to the community to figure out the things that influence their health status."
According to community members, she said, low income households and poverty is the No. 1 issues that affects health. Availability of employment was the area that needed the most improvement and, and those surveyed said the first area where there needed to be more education was substance abuse prevention. The county honed in on prioritizing obesity, teen pregnancy and substance abuse/mental health, Graham said.
"When doing a community health assessment, you really need to focus on the whole community," Lambdin said. "That includes those with low incomes or no health insurance."
Lambdin ran through influential statistics about the county, including a rise in teen pregnancy and obesity over the last four years. She asked participants to let that guide a brainstorming session, where attendees discussed steps to take to improve health in the community.
"You can't just sit inside your four walls and say, 'I want to make people healthy,'" she said. "You've got to go out and be where they are."
At the event,
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