Partnership for a Healthy Durham is a coalition of local agencies and communities with the goal of collaboratively improving the physical, mental, and social health and well-being of Durham's residents. The 2008 State of the County Health report and 2007 Community Health Assessment are available on the Partnership's website: www.healthydurham.org, or call the Partnership Coordinator, Mel Downey-Piper, at 560-7833.
Healthy Carolinians is a statewide network of partnerships that address health and safety issues at the community level. www.healthycarolinians.org, 707-5150.
Imagine Durham (Results-Based Accountability) is a Durham City and County government joint initiative that adopted nine goals -- or priority outcomes -- for our community. There are established community work-groups committed to improving our community in different areas. www.durhamnc.gov/rba, 560-0032.
Partnership for a Healthy Durham
How healthy are our residents? What is affecting their health? What groups of residents are not as healthy as others, or do not get as much needed health care? Every four years, Durham County conducts a community health assessment to celebrate our successes and set priorities to make improvements.
The last community health assessment was released in 2007, but in the interim years, a much shorter health assessment is produced called Durham's State Of The County Health report. The Partnership for a Healthy Durham produces this report by using state and local health statistics to check our progress since the last full community health assessment.
As a result of the 2007 Community Health Assessment, eight health priorities were identified in Durham County. These priorities are being addressed by The Partnership for a Healthy Durham, a coalition of local agencies and communities, through eight committees. The priorities are listed below and a one-page report on each of the areas can be found in Durham's State Of The County Health report at www.healthydurham.org.
n Access to health care
n Adolescent pregnancy prevention
n HIV/STD prevention and treatment
n Infant mortality prevention
n Injury prevention
n Mental health
n Obesity and chronic illness prevention
n Substance abuse prevention and treatment
Leading causes of death and top racial disparities
n The top five leading causes of death in Durham County are cancer, diseases of the heart, cerebrovascular disease, chronic lower respiratory disease and diabetes mellitus.
n Top racial disparities when looking at death rates were AIDS, homicide, diabetes, kidney disease and prostate cancer. This means that the proportion of minorities that died from the causes listed above was much higher compared to the death rates of whites.
Strides made in health:
n The year 2009 proved to be a stand-out year for North Carolina health legislation. The state passed laws that prohibit bullying in schools, as well as smoking in bars and restaurants. In addition, recent legislation mandates that students will be provided with more information on sexual health.
n Percent of children (ages 2 to 4) receiving WIC who are overweight or obese decreased 25 percent in the past three years
n Project Access of Durham County enrolled 1,122 uninsured patients from Lincoln Community Health Center in its first year of operation. Project Access patients received speciality medical care and services donated by local physicians, hospitals and other providers. These patients also benefitted from care coordination and disease management provided by a nurse case manager and health educator at LATCH, a program of Duke Community Health.
n Durham's overall infant mortality rate continues to meet the North Carolina 2010 goal; however, there are large racial disparities.
Durham County concerns this year:
n Impacts of the recession: 31,064 Durham residents received Food and Nutrition Service benefits from January-September 2009, which is a 29 percent increase from the same time period in 2008. Additionally, 8 percent of Durham's labor force was unemployed in 2009, with unemployment increasing 52 percent since September 2008.
n Access to health care: 16.6 percent of residents needed to see a doctor in the past year but could not due to cost. 29.9 percent of Durham residents do not have someone they think of as their personal health care provider.
n Repeat pregnancies: 31 percent of all pregnancies among girls ages 15-19 are repeat pregnancies.
n HIV and other Sexually Transmitted Infections: Durham County is ranked No. 3 for highest rates of HIV in the state. Durham County blacks have a syphillis rate that is almost twice that of whites.
n Although minorities make up 42 percent of all Durham births, they account for about 68 percent of all infant deaths and low birth weight babies.
n Obesity: 71 percent of adults are overweight or obese.
The Partnership's eight groups are finalizing their action plans for 2010 in order to address many of these concerns. We encourage and welcome anyone from the community to join The Partnership for a Healthy Durham to work toward making everyone in Durham healthy.
The Partnership for a Healthy Durham is the Healthy Carolinians planning team for Durham and serves as the Health Committee for the City and County's Results-Based Accountability initiative. For information on the partnership, visit www.healthydurham.org or call 560-7833.
