Kraig Dye
Intro to Public Health 100
Public Health Community Trends
I had the opportunity to communicate with
Eric Edwards who is the Director of Health Promotion at the Utah Count Health
Department. We talked about the various problems that are being faced by many
residents of Utah County. He listed more than five but I want to address the
five that I feel are most pertinent to my area of living.
He described how the Utah County Health
Department is working to identify the social determinants of health that affect
our county. He mentioned a few that are especially applicable to Utah
County. He listed poverty, levels of
education, and geography as potential determinants of health that have caused
problems in our communities. It is easy
to see how poverty plays a role in being healthy. If you don’t have the money
to pay for healthcare, you are more likely to struggle with health issues. I
have also noticed how certain areas of different cities can struggle with
health problems because of the relation to poverty. Many areas house mostly
those stricken with poverty which means less availability for healthcare.
The next problem is tobacco use. He
mentioned that although Utah has one of the lowest tobacco use rates in the
country, it is still the leading cause of preventable disease in Utah County.
Eric mentioned that Utah County is working hard to emphasize the various
cessation programs that are in place for those that wish to quit smoking. He
noted how there are programs in place to inform the public of the dangers of
secondhand smoke. One of the greatest
dangers can be those who smoke while they are pregnant. He also mentioned that
there are programs for that as well.
The next problem is the increase of chronic
diseases. He told me that over the last 100 years, chronic diseases have
replaced infectious diseases as the majority of the leading causes of death. He cites the leading cause of this to be
behavioral changes and unhealthy decisions. This is not surprising to me since
there are so many options for fast food these days. If you couple that with the
lack of exercise crippling the nation, it only adds to the argument that poor
diet and a sedentary lifestyle will increase your risk for chronic disease. He
mentions many evidence-based programs that strive to increase awareness of our
unhealthy lifestyles.
He
also listed obesity as one of the major problems in our area. Obesity in and of itself can lead to various
chronic diseases. He gave Type 2 Diabetes as an example. He told me that it is
no longer classified as Adult-Onset Diabetes because there are many children
who are getting diagnosed with Diabetes. He mentioned poor eating habits and a
sedentary lifestyle as two of the leading causes of obesity which can then lead
to diabetes. Many measures are being made to teach awareness of these problems
to people of all ages.
The last one is one that is less well known
around the valley. He mentioned prescription drug abuse and how it is affecting
our county. It is a lot more common here than we may realize. Eric told me that
the abuse of prescription drugs is approaching epidemic levels and that the
Utah County Health Department is working with its Substance Abuse program to
decrease the usage of prescription medications.
He says that there is still a lot that needs to be done to curb the
problem. I feel that there needs to be an increased awareness for prescription
drug abuse. Too many people are dying from it and I know that we can do
something more.
I
know there are many other problems facing our communities but I feel that these
are the ones that seem to be more prevalent than others. It was very fascinating to learn more about
public health trends from someone who knows what is going on.
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