Is there a connection between where you live and your health?
Some Snohomish County non profits say the evidence shows that disparities in health care are based as much on geography and social issues as income.
The Family Center of South Snohomish County will lead a discussion on the issue 6 p.m. Friday, June 12 at Cedar Valley Community School, 19200 56th Ave. W, Lynnwood. The center is hoping south county residents will join in the free event that includes a light supper and screening of a 30-minute segment from the 2008 PBS documentary “Unnatural Causes.”
The event is actually a continuation of the discussion begun last year by the Communities of Color Coalition, based in Everett. That group sponsored discussions on the issue in Everett and Monroe in May and June, 2008, respectively.
“This helps extend our ability to be an effective sort of catalyst for community activity around this issue,” said Bo Tunestam, treasurer of the Coalition, a non profit focused on combating racism through education. “One of the main factors we think is true, and that this series emphasizes, is that the conditions people live in … are the conditions that end up driving what their health status ends up being.”
Statistics compiled by the Snohomish Health District show, for example, that a higher percentage of minority mothers received inadequate pre-natal care from 2003 to 2005. Those statistics showed that 24.5 percent of Native American women, and 20.5 percent of black women received inadequate pre-natal care compared to 12.2 percent of Caucasian women.
Mothers who emigrated from the former Soviet republics were much more likely than United States-born mothers to receive inadequate care, the statistics show.
Often, Tunestam said, such disparities are also reflected by the quality and accessibility of nearby grocery stores, access to good schools, parks and sidewalks.
“Most of the things that end up driving health and wellness are related to socio-economic issues, access to jobs, to education, good housing, good food, recreational activities,” he said.
Pam Graham, program manager for the Family Center, said her organization received grant funds to pay for the June 12 event.
“We’re mobilizing the agency for community needs as well as community assets,” she said. “We selected this program because it felt so relevant and is something the average citizen would be interested in. What does where I live have to do with the quality of health care? What does my zip code have to do with health care?”
The city of Lynnwood also is addressing issues of health care, quality of life and chronic disease. In 2007, the city implemented the state’s Healthy Communities program with help from the health district. This year, the city is bolstering those efforts with a 12-person committee and a program called ACHIEVE that will focus on recommending policy guidelines for a range of activities to improve the health of Lynnwood residents, said Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs director Lynn Sordel.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
