Study: Coshocton residents’ health improving

• Coshocton County ranked 44th in health outcomes and 61st in health factors out of 88 Ohio counties.
• Research was released recently by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and University of Wisconsin.
• Decreases in unemployment and children living in poverty were seen as positive signs.
• Access to healthy food and clinical care is also improved in the county.

COSHOCTON – Coshocton County ranked around the middle of Ohio counties for health of citizens based on a new study, but is improved over recent yearly scores.

The sixth annual County Health Rankings by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute were released earlier this month. Coshocton ranked 44th of 88 counties in health outcomes, which gauges length and quality of life, and 61st in health factors, which ranges from tobacco and alcohol use to economics.

The health outcome ranking has improved from 53rd in 2014 and 64th in 2013. The health factors ranking is down one from from 60th in 2014, but better than 71st in 2013.

Coshocton County Health Department Director of Nursing, Becky Beiter, credits the upticks to collaborative efforts between local agencies and organizations. She feels as a community people want to improve their health and are making small steps in that direction.

“Overall, everybody is trying to get across the idea of diet and exercise and the importance of that with chronic diseases and things like that,” Beiter said. “We can impact our health a lot of the time with even small changes and I think people are starting to see and understand that.”

For example, the county health department recently participated in a hunger coalition of various agencies looking at the availability of not just food, but healthy food like fruits and vegetables. Three established food banks in the county at the Salvation Army, New Beginning Ministries and the Upper Room Assembly and Worship Center were seen as solid outlets of making more expensive healthy foods more accessible to lower-income individuals.

Another positive for the county Beiter noted was the opening of the Muskingum Valley Health Centers clinic in February 2014 offering more access to medical care. Along with the Hope Clinic there are two primary outlets for the uninsured or under-insured to seek medical care, even those not insured in the county dropped form 17 percent to 15 percent between 2014 and 2015.

“We do have a few extra places people can go if they don’t have a family doctor or insurance to pay for clinic care,” Beiter said. “In our Appalachian culture, many people didn’t go to the doctor unless they were sick. I think we’re trying to work more with educating families on preventive care and that ties back to behaviors like eating healthier.”

More people insured can also be tied to a decrease in unemployment and those living in poverty. Unemployment and children living in poverty also dropped for the last three years. The unemployment rate was 11.2 percent for 2013 and the poverty rate for children was 29 percent. For 2014, the poverty rate for children was 25 percent and the unemployment rate was 9.9 percent. For 2015, unemployment was at 9.6 percent and and children living in poverty stayed at 25 percent.

Abbey Cofsky, the foundation’s senior program officer in charge of the county rankings program, said elements like schooling and unemployment aren’t directly related to individual health, but is a factor in a community’s overall health picture.

“It reminds us our health is influenced by so much more than what happens in a doctor's office,” she said. “Why poverty leads to poor health is not just about an inability to buy a gym membership or buy healthy foods. It's the nature of the communities where they are living.”

To review the results, go online to countyhealthrankings.org.

Jayne O'Donnell and Laura Ungar of USA Today contributed to this story.

llhayhur@coshoctontribune.com

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