Analyzing Pearson County’s Health

Person County came into being in 1791 and is located in North Carolina in the Piedmont region. The area can be perceived as a landlocked region because of the absence of a natural water body. The county comprises four major districts, and the county seat is in Roxboro. In the census conducted in 2020, the Raleigh Durham chapel hill and Durham chapel hill metropolitan areas were included in the county’s demography. Person County was ideal for this study because it is my ancestral home. One of my family members also died because of unavailable maternal healthcare services within the region. The community health assessment would highlight challenges and changes that have been experienced in the delivery of care to the community. In this regard, the paper aims to conduct a community health assessment for Person County.

Community Description

Person County is named after General Thomas Person, one of the brigadiers in the War for Revolution. The county was once a part of Caswell County but was restricted in 1791. Person, located in North Central Carolina, boasts of the scenery of forestry, vast land used for farming, and the Hyco and Mayo, artificial lakes mostly used for recreation. The region comprises the Durham Chapel metropolitan area and accommodates workers from Wake, Durham, and Orange counties. The person also accommodates Piedmont community college and 39500 people (Person County, 2022). The ethnography of the community is also diverse, comprising 25% of African Americans,4% of Hispanics,67% of white people, and other ethnic communities, 4%.

The median age for people living in person county is 43.6 years, indicating fewer youths within the community. The projection of people above 65 years within the community is expected to increase by 23% by 2050. There are 18599 housing units as of 2022, with 18% of those employed in retail. One of the characteristics of the retail industry is that the salaries are average and, more often, below average, with minimal lucrative work benefits. In the county, most workers earn between $350 to $930 weekly, below the state minimum wage (Person County,2022). In 2022, as the economy was recovering from the adverse effects of Covid-19, the unemployment rate was reduced by 4.1%.

Data from the county indicates that the poverty rate is higher by 16.3%; poverty remains a persistent challenge among ethnic minority groups, with 58.4% of Hispanics, 23% of black, and 38.4% of Native Americans living in poverty. In 2020, 12 % of the residents of a person aged between 64 years to 0 remained without insurance coverage. Most healthcare workers are also above the age of 65 years, with 40% of dentists and 23% of physicians above the age of 60 years(Person County,2022). The aging workforce challenges care delivery because of the high patient-to-caregiver ratio. The effects are negative for the population living in poverty. The region also enjoys 663 firms offering employment and 15.5% of civilians with disability. The life expectancy for people within the community is 75.9 years; the current male life expectancy is 70.6 years, while the age for women is 79.0 years.

Community Wellness Assets and Use

One of the community wellness assets is the availability of health insurance. Generally, health insurance lowers the barrier to accessing healthcare. In Person County, people between 18 and 64 years, approximated to lack health insurance coverage, stands at 14.3%. An indication that health insurance coverage is underutilized in the region, creating a gap in care delivery (Cope et al., 2019). There are aspects such as Medicaid, which serves approximately 11300 residents. Health insurance is overused because the Medicaid program is expected to serve approximately 10700 people. The county also boasts of healthcare providers. There are 10 dentists,11 assistant physicians,34 physicians, and 169 registered nurses.

These healthcare providers aim at addressing the health challenges of occupants of a person. However, compared to other counties, the healthcare providers are few and cannot cater to the needs of the occupants of Person County. For instance, the number of registered nurses in person is 41.84, while for Bladen County, the number stands at 99.3%. The aging population also does not help, complemented by the unwillingness of younger workers to relocate to rural areas. Such aspects create barriers to care delivery (Crouch et al.,2020). This also leads to 32% of people living in person seeking medical attention in neighboring counties. A person is also home to health facilities such as the Person Memorial Hospital.

The facility accommodates 98 beds, 60 beds in the skilled nursing facility and 38 in the acute care section. The facility offers emergency, in-patient, and outpatient services. The major challenge associated with the facility is that it does not accommodate maternal patients creating a need for expectant women to seek maternal services outside the county. A person has a public health department that tries to accommodate the challenge by offering a multifaceted range of services, including but not limited to maternal health, STI services, family planning services, and care for at-risk patients. The county and a federally qualified health center served approximately 7522 patients in the year 2021 (Person County,2022).

The person family medical center is a federally qualified health center that offers preventive and primary care for all persons regardless of economic, social, and political status . An indication that the facility accommodates uninsured patients in the year 2021, the number of uninsured patients served stood at 47%. The student-to-nurse ratio was below average, with the average rate being 1;750 (Mwachofi et al.,2022). Vaya Health was the mental health service provider in Person County. However, the facility merged with Cardinal Innovation s center, which serves close to 30 counties within North Carolina. Person County is left unattended regarding the provision of mental healthcare. Toll-free lines 2-1-1 address social, behavioral, and local public health issues such as housing problems and basic human needs. Such services complement emergency medical services, which received over 26000 calls between 2018 and 2022.

Community Health Status Person county

Health Equity Indicators

The infant mortality rate stood at 19 deaths per year. This implies that the number fails to calculate infant health disparities among ethnic communities comprehensively. However, out of the number identified, infant mortality rates among Hispanics and African Americans exceeded the data for members of the white community. That is, the infant mortality rate for people from white ethnic communities stood at 4.9%, while that of minority groups such as Hispanics and African Americans stood at 12.7 (Wortman et al.,2020). The life expectancy for African Americans is shorter than that of white community members. That is, African Americans have a life expectancy of 72.8, while members of the white community have a life expectancy of 76.7 (Crozier & Garrett, 2019). An indication that health disparities exist between members of dominant and minority ethnic communities.

Swot Analysis

Synthesis of Community Health Status and Conclusion

The general community health status can be perceived as average. This is because most residents have access to healthcare services. As discussed above, there are challenges caused by the high rate of uninsured people compared to other counties. The availability of the healthcare department has addressed this. The healthcare department offers services to all population members without discrimination or systematic barriers. The health status of minority groups remains poor despite these interventions. This is seen as the life expectancy rate remains low compared to members of ethnic minority groups. The maternal-infant mortality rate for this group as well remains to be relatively low. The county has facilities that are viewed as assets that help improve the residents’ health status. There are challenges posed by unavailable services leaving residents to seek these services in nearby counties. In this regard, for the health outcome to be enhanced, the modes of interventions need to be holistic such that a collaborative approach incorporating active and proactive measures is used to enhance health outcomes.

Reference

Cope, A. B., Seña, A. C., Eagle, C., Pol, A., Rahman, M., & Peterman, T. A. (2019). Assessing patient opinions about electronic messaging for gonorrhea and Chlamydia result notification and partner services, Durham, North Carolina. Sexually transmitted diseases, 46(9), 625.

Crouch, E., Jones, J., Strompolis, M., & Merrick, M. (2020). Examining the association between ACEs, childhood poverty and neglect, and physical and mental health: Data from two state samples. Children and Youth Services Review, 116, 105155.

Crozier, W. E., & Garrett, B. L. (2019). Driven to failure: An empirical analysis of driver’s license suspension in North Carolina. Duke LJ, 69, 1585.

Mwachofi, A., Imai, S., & Bell, R. A. (2020). Adverse childhood experiences and mental health in adulthood: Evidence from North Carolina. Journal of affective disorders, 267, 251-257.

Person County. (2022). Person County Community Health assessment. Anika Pfaenders.

Wortman, Z., Tilson, E. C., & Cohen, M. K. (2020). Buying Health For North Carolinians: Addressing Nonmedical Drivers Of Health At Scale: This article describes initiatives the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services is implementing to integrate medical and nonmedical drivers of health. Health Affairs, 39(4), 649-654.