Having goals to improve mental health, prevent tobacco use and increase COVID-19 and flu vaccination rates in Cortland County isn’t enough, health officials said Tuesday night. Strategies must consider underserved groups, discrimination and exclusion.
The Cortland County Health Department presented its two-year Community Health Improvement Plan in a Zoom meeting, based on data it compiled with the help of 20 organizations and school districts.
The health department conducted the Cortland County Community Health Assessment from February to April to better understand community health perceptions and health disparities in underserved groups. The health department and other groups surveyed 2,266 residents.
The organizers will use the data to close health gaps caused by ethnicity, gender identity and physical disability.
“Health disparities don’t exist because of the fault of individual groups. Systemic issues of discrimination and exclusion create those disparities,” said Margaret Broderick, the epidemiology manager for the Cortland County Health Department.
The Community Health Improvement Plan targets health improvements in three areas:
Mental health and substance abuse disorder.
The county is implementing targeted naloxone distribution to cope with opioid overdoses, building support groups, expanding syringe and drug disposal programs and expanding treatments and referrals with partners such as Guthrie Cortland Medical Center.
Guthrie will also redesign and expand its behavioral health services to improve mental health and suicide care, the hospital announced earlier this year.
Preventing tobacco and vape use.
Along with tobacco use, vape usage in Cortland County is above state average. Youth vaping increased in 2021, the first time since 2017.
“We’re having a really big issue from middle school through 10th grade with vaping,” said Nikki Koekebacker, the lead coordinator for Reality Check, a statewide youth anti-smoking program. “We know that people in vulnerable populations are having higher percentages of vape usage.”
Reality Check and others hope to curb the trend through youth outreach, social media campaigns and school programming. The county will also conduct compliance checks with retailers who sell tobacco and vape products to determine if they are following product regulations.
Increasing vaccination rates for preventable diseases, such as COVID-19 and flu.
As of May, Cortland County has a COVID-19 vaccination rate of 62.7% compared to the state’s 81.7% rate; the county’s flu/pneumonia hospitalization rate of people 65 and older is 197 per 10,000, more than double the state rate of 85.5 per 10,000.
The health department hopes to increase those numbers through social media campaigns, community ambassadors, traditional vaccine clinics and at-home vaccinations for rural and disabled residents.
Community progress updates will be available on the county website starting spring 2023. Progress on the plan will be reviewed quarterly through 2024 with a final outcome evaluation in early 2025.
