The State of Health in Houston/Harris County
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THE STATE OF HEALTH HOUSTON/HARRIS COUNTY TEXAS 2009 THE STATE OF HEALTH IN HOUSTON/HARRIS COUNTY 2009 Photos are courtesy of the U.S. Census Bureau The State of Health in Houston/Harris County 2009 Welcome to the State of Health in Houston/Harris County. We are pleased to provide our many constituencies this broad assessment of the health of our community. Many organizations have joined together to determine the most pertinent health indicators, and gathered and organized these measures into a format that we hope will be both interesting and informative. This report provides: • current measures available to evaluate the health in our com- munity • trends in key health measures to allow readers to evaluate changes in local health status and compare these measures to national goals • resources for priority setting in preventing disease, promoting health and improving access to care • health care information and websites for more detailed infor- mation • summaries of key public health actions to address the identi- fied issues Please feel free to use this information as needed for planning and decision making. We hope this report assists you in your efforts to address health-related concerns in our community. Patricia G. Bray, Ph.D. Executive Director St. Luke’s Episcopal Health Charities, Inc. Acknowledgments In 2005, Stephen L. Williams, Director, Houston Department of Health and Human Services (HDHHS), and Herminia Palacio, Executive Director, Harris County Public Health and Envi- ronmental Services (HCPHES), created a joint State of Health annual report. In 2006, that document expanded to include three more public health groups, the Harris County Healthcare Alliance (HCHA), the Mental Health and Mental Retardation Authority of Harris County (MHMRA), and the Harris County Hospital District (HCHD). The addition of these sponsor or- ganizations brought together more than sixty people to create a comprehensive and practical publication, The State of Health of Houston/Harris County, January 2007. Two years later, an additional sponsor, St. Luke’s Episcopal Health Charities (SLEHC) joined the group to de- velop the current publication — The State of Health of Houston/Harris County, 2009. Editor-in-Chief: Beverly Nichols, Sr. Analyst, Health Promotion, Evaluation & Planning, HDHHS Co-Editor and Website Concept: Mark Perry, Community Health Statistics, HDHHS Editor for HCPHES Annual Report, which served as a basis for this document: Elizabeth Love, Chief of HCPHES Office of Policy and Planning Student Editors: Jessica Gamboa, University of Texas School of Public Health Stephanie Burke, University of Houston Project Oversight: Faith E. Foreman, HDHHS Assistant Director, Office of Health Promotion, Evaluation & Planning Health Indicators Committee: This group defined key measures and recommendations for the report. Karen Love, HCHA, Chair Stephen Linder, UT School of Public Health Raouf Arafat, HDHHS Kim Lopez, SLEHC Chuck Begley, UT School of Public Health Michelle Martinez ,HCHA Stephanie Burke, HDHHS Tuan Nguyen, MHMRA Patrick Courtney, UT School of Public Health Beverly Nichols, HDHHS June Hanke, HCHD Mark Perry, HDHHS Jeanne Hanks, SLEHC Rocaille Roberts, HCPHES Scott Hickey, MHMRA Catherine Troisi, HDHHS Margo Hilliard, HCHD Content Contributors: Salma Khuwaja Photography/ Margo Hilliard Amanda Kubala Graphics MHMRA HDHHS Olen Lewis Porfirio Villarreal Scott Hickey Oyeba Akyea Liquan Liu Marty Blaise Tuan Nguyen Adebowale Awosika- Jeffrey Meyer Bonnie Hubly Olumo Lisa Montemayer UT School of Public HCPHES Pamela Berger Beverly Nichols Health at Houston Many HCPHES staff Zahyrah Blakeney Mark Perry Chuck Begley members contributed Arturo Blanco Lillie Peter Patrick Courtney to the HCPHES Annual Patsy Cano Brenda Reyes Helena Vonville Report. This report was Shirley Chan Peggy Rogers used as a key informa- COH Mayor’s Office Johanna DeYoung Sheila Savannah tion source for this Environ. Programming Jyothi Domakonda Kirstin Short document. Loren Raun Marie Eaglin Kanwar Singh Anthony Eshofonie Monica Slentz HCHA/HDHHS H-GAC Carolyn Gray Richard Stancil Jessica Gamboa Clean Rivers Program Lisa Groves Riju Stephen Stephanie Burke Todd Running Dan Hoyt Brenda Thorne Om Chawla HCHD Ketan Inamdar Marcia Wolverton June Hanke Conrad Janus Yufang Zhang Introduction The State of Health of Houston/Harris County focuses Health, Injury and Violence, Environmental Qual- on the well being of the nearly four million people who ity, Immunization and Access to Health Care. live in Houston/Harris County. Public Health empha- Each of the 10 Leading Health Indicators has one sizes prevention and health promotion for the whole or more objectives from Healthy People 2010 community rather than individuals, employs interven- associated with it. As a group, the Leading Health tions aimed at the environment, human behavior, Indicators reflect the major health concerns in the lifestyle and medical care, and is stimulated by United States at the beginning of the 21st cen- threats to the health of that population. Public Health tury. (Find out more at www.healthypeople.gov/.) is committed to protect the community against infec- tious disease and environmental hazards; to collect, Public Health Actions lists the actions be- analyze and disseminate health data; to provide lead- ing taken by Public Health to address the health ership, planning and policy development; and to as- issue based on the Ten Essential Public Health sure community-wide quality and accessible health Functions. They are: monitor health status to services. identify community health problems; diagnose and investigate health problems and health haz- The report offers concise summaries on more ards in the community; inform, educate, and em- than forty health topics. Where possible, each section power people about health issues; mobilize com- reports on Trends, Population Differences, Geo- munity partnerships to identify and solve health graphic Distribution, Economic Impact, Healthy problems; develop policies and plans that support People 2010 and Public Health Actions. individual and community health efforts; enforce Trends reflects the direction the health issue is laws and regulations that protect health and en- taking over a specified period of time using statistics sure safety; link people to needed personal from the Behavior Risk Factor Surveillance System health services and assure the provision of health (BRFSS). BRFSS is the world’s largest, on-going care when otherwise unavailable; assure a com- telephone health survey system, tracking health con- petent public health and personal health care ditions and risk behaviors in the United States yearly workforce; evaluate effectiveness, accessibility, since 1984. Conducted by the 50 state health depart- and quality of personal and population-based ments as well as those in the District of Columbia, health services; and research for new insights Puerto Rico, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands with and innovative solutions to health problems. support from the U.S. Department of Health and Hu- Due to the breadth of health issues included, man Services Centers for Disease Control and Pre- no section can go into great detail. Readers are vention (CDC), BRFSS provides state-specific infor- directed to governmental and advocacy websites mation about issues such as asthma, diabetes, health for further inquiry under “For More Information.” care access, alcohol use, hypertension, obesity, can- cer screening, nutrition and physical activity, tobacco Much of the data presented is collected at use, and more. Federal, state, and local health offi- the county level—that is, there is no distinction cials and researchers use this information to track made between the jurisdictions of Houston and health risks, identify emerging problems, prevent dis- Harris County when the data are gathered. When ease and improve treatment. data can be differentiated between the two juris- dictions, in many cases, the results are actually Population Differences brings to light the eth- quite similar; therefore, much of the data is re- nic, gender and socioeconomic disparities apparent ported as “Houston/Harris County.” In most with many health issues. Geographic Distribution cases, this designation will not include informa- presents how various locales are impacted by health tion from the areas of Houston within Fort Bend issues. The Economic Impact sections provide sta- and Montgomery Counties. If important differ- tistics on the dollars and lives lost and human suffer- ences in health data are noted between the two ing related to the consequences of each health issue. jurisdictions, the findings are reported separately Healthy People 2010 is a measure developed as either “Houston” or “Harris County (excluding by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Ser- the City of Houston).” In this case, “Houston” is vices. The study uses leading health indicators to inclusive of the areas of the city within Fort Bend measure the health of the nation over the next 10 and Montgomery Counties. years. The Leading Health Indicators are: Physical This report uses many acronyms. Please see Activity, Overweight and Obesity, Tobacco Use , Sub- the Appendices for definitions. stance Abuse, Responsible Sexual Behavior, Mental Table of Contents Population Facts.............................................................................................. 1 Factors Influencing Health .............................................................................. 5 Socioeconomic Indicators ....................................................................