SLO Health Counts is made up of community members, nonprofits, government agencies, cities, schools and leaders in San Luis Obispo County.
The group aims to find ways to create a healthier community. Part of that mission is a community health assessment for SLO County every five years.
“We know that of what makes up someone's health and well-being, only 20% of it is what takes place in the doctor's office," said San Luis Obispo County public health officer, Dr. Penny Borenstein. "We're really looking also at how people live, where they work, what their ability to exercise is… healthy foods."
The community health assessment is an online collection of data from residents all over San Luis Obispo County taking into account different factors.
“All the measures that people are interested in in terms of health and wellness of our community, demographic factors like the age distribution, the racial breakdown, gender," added Dr. Borenstein.
The last time this was done was back in 2018 pre-COVID times.
A lot of the data comes from state and national sources while other findings come from community members.
Dr. Borenstein says this year around 4,000 people participated in the survey.
A number of findings came from the survey. The number one community health concern was access to health care and coming in at number two was mental health.
“I'm not surprised to hear that because during COVID, we saw that mental health was becoming a great concern and one that people were suddenly ready to recognize and talk about," said Michael Kaplan, Transitions Mental Health Association community engagement director.
Kaplan says conversations over mental health are becoming more common and it’s something people are looking to find help with.
“I think that there are a few reasons why mental health is much more out in the open now. I think that the younger generation has a completely different approach and understanding of what's at stake, and they are willing to talk about it almost instinctively," added Kaplan.
There was good news in the findings — the rate of heart disease is falling and teen births have been steadily dropping.
On the other hand, there were also some negative data points.
“Certainly, overdose deaths are one thing," explained Dr. Borenstein. "Strokes in our county are higher than the rest of the state, and it's been that way for a while. It's continuing to be a leading cause of death that we can't seem to get a handle on."
Moving forward, SLO Health Counts will create action plans to address those areas of concern.
Transitions Mental Health Association has resources for those dealing with mental health challenges.
For the family services program, you can call (805) 540-6571.
The Central Coast hotline is another resource individuals can call or text at (800) 783-0607.
More information on mental health resources can be found here.
