Community Trends in Multnomah County, Oregon -- Hilary Collins

Public Health Community Trends Project

Hilary Collins

I am from Portland, Oregon, and decided to contact the Oregon Health Authority to retrieve this information. I spoke with Jean C. O’connor, JD, DrPH, the Public Health Deputy Director, and she helped inform me of all these 5 bullet points. Although she is the head for all of Oregon, I told her that I more specifically wanted to learn about Multnomah County, the county where I am from. She directed me to this website: http://web.multco.us/sites/default/files/health/documents/mapp_summary_report.pdf         On this site I was able to read about the recent policies that the directors of this county is implementing and what their greatest concerns are. They had many categories that they are trying to work on and make specific goals to fix. Here are the 5 main points and a little information about each one.

Concerning Maternal and Child Health: The percent of women receiving first trimester prenatal care is decreasing in the County. The County does not meet the national objective for first trimester prenatal care. Communities of color in Multnomah County continued to have significantly higher proportions of mothers who did not receive prenatal care in the first trimester of pregnancy compared to White non-Hispanics. This is something of importance to address because this influences the mothers health as well as the babies health. How this will be addressed is by implementing more classes in the lower income communities do the community is aware who is receiving care and who isn’t

 Concerning Chronic Disease and Related Conditions: Diabetes deaths are increasing in the County. The County rate is higher than the U.S. African Americans have significantly higher rates of diabetes deaths. Diabetes is a contributing factor to many other serious chronic diseases, such as cancers or heart attacks or strokes. These statistics also are a reflection of the overall poor health in the county (such as an increase in obesity).

 Concerning Sexually Transmitted Diseases: The rate of chlamydia is increasing in the County and the rate is higher than Oregon and the U.S. In the County, chlamydia rates are greater for African Americans, Native Americans, and Hispanics. This could be part of the underlining problem of race discrimination going on in this county, with the fact that minorities are not receiving equal care. Public health workers are working to track patterns in the community more to see why there has been an increase in this area. Determining what “healthy sexuality” is important too, because it differs in each community.

Concerning Unhealthy Behaviors: The percent of 8th and 11th graders meeting nutritional recommendations for fruits and vegetables has decreased in the County. The percent of 11th graders in the County meeting recommendations is lower than U.S. 11th graders. Not meeting nutritional recommendations among teens can have long-term consequences to health. Changes will be implemented in the schools by adjusting the food options available to the students.  Also an increase in accessibility to recreational parks will help eliminate this problem.

 Concerning Other Rates of Death: Accidental poisoning deaths are increasing in the County. The County rate is higher than Oregon and the U.S., and the County does not meet the national objective for reducing accidental poisoning deaths. Many people are unaware of how to protect themselves and their families from accidental poisoning, so educating is crucial. Clearer labels is essential. And advertising the Poison Control is helpful in preventing death and treating overdoses sooner.