||| FROM SAN JUAN COUNTY COMMUNICATIONS |||
The Community Health Assessment (CHA) is now available after months of work to better understand San Juan County residents’ health needs. San Juan County (SJC) partnered with our community to identify health needs, gaps, and existing community strengths, which will help guide the work of public health and partner agencies to support healthier communities.
“Much has changed in our island community since the last San Juan County Community Health Assessment in 2008,” said Ellen Wilcox, Healthy Communities Manager. “During the past 15 years, our population has grown and changed, and as we emerged from the most intense years of the COVID-19 pandemic, we knew we needed to approach this CHA differently. This assessment looks not only at hard data, but also captures the stories and experiences in our community in order to paint a fuller picture of what health and wellbeing looks like in San Juan County.”
What Is a Community Health Assessment?
Public health uses a CHA as one tool to look at the overall health of a community. This is a process that looks at the ways many organizations, schools, agencies, and policies contribute to the health of their community.
Why Is a CHA Important?
The information collected during this process can identify the top needs a community is facing around health and wellness and help plan the actions and services needed to improve health in our community. The top three community-identified needs in San Juan County were:
- Mental health
- Housing
- Access to health care
Two topics were consistently raised as common threads connecting the top three community-identified needs:
- Workers to support the island infrastructure and economy
- Transportation impacts
What’s Next?
SJC will use these finding to continue collaborating with dedicated community partners to address the needs of the community, and to improve health and health outcomes.
Now that the 2023 CHA has been made available to the community, Health & Community Services staff will work with community partners to create a Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP). The CHIP will identify priority areas of improvement, ways to evaluate our progress, and set a path towards creating a healthier community for all in San Juan County.
Learn More
A full version of the CHA is available online. There are also physical copies of the CHA distributed across the county for reading. To find a location with a physical copy near you, go to our Engage page or call our front office at 360-378-4474 and we will be glad to assist you.
If you would like to learn more about the CHA, check out February’s Board of Health meeting presentation. The meeting was recorded and is available online, so you can watch it at a time convenient to you.
The Community Health Survey will remain open and is available to take online in English and Spanish. Even though your responses will not be reflected in this year’s CHA, your responses are valuable and will be considered as our team moves into the next stages of this project.
Relevant URLs:
- Community Health Assessment (español)
- Community Health Assessment Engage Page (español)
- Community Health Assessment (SJC Webpage)
- Board of Health Meeting Information
About San Juan County’s Department of Health & Community Services
San Juan County’s Department of Health & Community Services is responsible for community and environmental health, mental health and substance abuse programs, senior services, affordable housing projects, and more. The department has staff and offices on Lopez, Orcas, and San Juan Islands. For more information about San Juan County’s Department of Health & Community Services, visit www.sanjuancountywa.gov/1777/Health-Community-Services.
