NEW ALBANY — Did you know there is a greater chance for residents of Floyd County to be stricken with colon and lung cancer than prostate cancer?

And probably to no one’s surprise, the rate of obesity and heart disease continues to rise in the county.

The Floyd Memorial Hospital Foundation recently funded a community health needs assessment which tells the health story of Floyd and surrounding counties. The assessment not only provided answers for the overall health of the community, but also points to areas that need to be addressed.

The indicators, which are part of the assessment, at http://floydfoundation.org/community-assessment/, gives residents a look at where Floyd County ranks with other counties in the state.

It’s been about 10 years since the last assessment, according to Shannon Carroll, a registered nurse, coordinator and educator for the Healthier Community Initiative at the hospital. It is a requirement from the Internal Revenue Service, but it is much more than that. The report will continually be updated to give educators and residents data on where the community ranks in numerous health categories.

It also gives Carroll and other health professionals insight on what types of screenings and education to concentrate on in order to address the problem areas — like smoking cessation classes and promoting physical fitness.

“It paints a community picture for us,” Carroll said.

“It is telling us what areas need addressed,” said Ruth Heideman, executive director of Floyd Memorial Hospital Foundation which funds many of the community health screenings and events. “There is only so much money so this helps us concentrate on areas of concern.”

Floyd Memorial hired Healthier Communities Institute to coordinate a Community Health Network Area report. This report is a compilation of health and quality of life indicators for Floyd County. The report indicates that in Floyd County cancers, heart disease, obesity and smoking are growing problems.



HOW WE RANK

There are several indicators that not only show where Floyd County residents rank in certain health areas, but also other quality of life and environmental categories.

The communitywide health needs assessment survey was conducted over a one month period to collect the perceived needs from residents. During that period, 285 Floyd County residents went online to view the survey, 106 residents at least started the survey and 64 residents completed the full survey, according to a foundation release. Floyd County residents said that a clean, safe environment was most important to them. Affordable and available health care was second. Good schools and safe neighborhoods closely followed.

“This gives us a lot of purpose and direction,” Carroll said. “We want the community to be excited about the assessment. It’s really fascinating and it will be a great benefit to the community as we move forward.”

Carroll said that Floyd County, in comparison to other Indiana counties, is performing relatively well in the socioeconomic areas.

Health priorities that were discovered were found to be consistent among all data sources [community survey, focus groups and CHNA data]. Priorities include adult and childhood obesity, heart disease and stroke, cancer and diabetes.

The data not only painted a picture of the negative health issues, but also where education and screenings have been utilized by Floyd County residents to lower certain cancer risks. For example, prostate cancer rates were very low in the county, which may have something to do with ongoing education for men to be screened including the free yearly screenings provided by the foundation at the hospital.

Lowering the number of smokers, promoting healthy eating habits as well as exercise are the keys to moving forward, Carroll said.  

“We will continually update the data. This isn’t some study that will just sit on a bookshelf,” Carroll said. “We will see what improvements we make and what areas need addressed as we move forward.”