Shaye Mullen - Community Health Trends for Okotoks, AB

I talked to my Mom, Sherri, who works as a Directer of Health Programs and Services in my hometown. This essentially means that clients come into her office, and she advises them on what community resources are available to help them, as well as providing counselling. This places her in a unique position to see the wide variety of health issues that exist in the area. Based on the number of clients coming in for each concern, the top 5 community health concerns for the Okotoks area are:

1. Stress
2. Sexual Health
3. Smoking
4. Lack of Immunizations
5. Obesity

1) Stress:

There is a growing trend towards anxiety and high stress in my area. Sherri works to combat this issue mainly through referrals, as there are many community programs designed to help those struggling with high levels of stress. There is a local walk-in clinic with trained councilors run by Alberta Health Care, a mental health intake line and distress center, and several support groups designed to help specific groups, such as parents or youth. She believes that this is a growing problem due to the immense complexity of our world, the increasing number of family breakdowns, and inadequate resources, both financial and emotional. 

2) Sexual Health:

Promescuity, risky sexual behavior, and STI's are also growing concerns in the Okotoks area. According to Sherri, this is due to the fact that, despite education, kids and teens feel a sense of invincability and do not take the necessary precautions. There have been several breakouts of STI's in middle schools and high schools, which has lead to a new focus in schools and the community on combating these trends. The government has created many programs designed to educate teens and children, such as the website optionsforequalhealth.org, and a community teen clinic which provides contraceptives and free screening for STI's. This clinic is very important as many may not be comfortable discussing with family doctor, or feel embarrassed buying contraceptives.

3) Smoking:

Sherri said this was one of the most critical issues in the Okotoks area, as the provincial average of teens who smoke is 15%, but is only 5% in Okotoks, though this number is rising. She says it is especially important to combat teen smoking, as teens have been shown as the group most likely to quit smoking, and to influence their friends to make the same choice. There are several government programs avalible to smokers, such as financial calculators which are designed to show the financial effects of smoking, a website called albertaquits.ca, and a group support program called quitcore, among others. This issue is especially important because studies have shown that tobacco related illnesses are responsible for more deaths that most other factors combined (accident, other diseases etc.)

4) Parents not immunizing:

Another growing issue in my area was that parents are becoming less inclined to immunize their children. Sherri believes this is due to the large amount of misinformation avaliable on the internet, including websites and studies. The population of Okotoks is largely comprised of young families, and as more parents choose to not immunize their children, a culture of "pseudo science" and "pseudo studies" is born. One parent chooses not to immunize, which impacts other parents decision whether or not to immunize. This results in a large pool of children who are suceptible to preventable diseases. The towns public health department has a campaign running to help combat this culture of misinformation, which helps educate parents whether websites and studies are reputable, and educating them on the increase in deaths due to the decision to not immunize.

5) Obesity :

The final health concern in my area is obesity. According to Sherri, this issue stems from an increase in sedimentary lifestyles, the avalibility and affordability of fast food, unstructured food intake (not eating regularly timed meals), poor nutritional quality of food people can afford, and emotional eating. To help combat this issue, Sherri refers clients to dieticians, family doctors, and community health programs, which include the living well program, which helps increase physical activity and tries to combat the risk of chronic disease, and the healthyu program, which educates parents and children on how to improve their diet.