Southwestern Public Health Releases Local Health Data

Thursday, 12 September 2019 15:19

The reports cover different aspects of public health in the region, including sexual health, school health, mental health, environmental health, healthy growth and development and chronic disease prevention.

OXFORD COUNTY - Southwestern Public Health has released ten reports on the health status of the region.

The reports cover different aspect of public health, including sexual health, school health, mental health, environmental health, healthy growth and development and chronic disease prevention. They also describe differences across demographic characteristics in our region and highlight assets and opportunities related to these health topics.

Some of the reports’ findings include:

- We can expect the number, strength, and duration of heat waves to increase over time.

- Rates of infectious diseases in our region remain low and comparable with those of Ontario. Within our region, the rates of infectious group A streptococcal disease was higher among people aged 65 years old and older than in younger age groups.

- About 1 in 10 households were in core housing need, meaning the household’s dwelling was unsuitable, inadequate and/or unaffordable.

- Males in the SWPH region had higher rates of syphilis and HIV/AIDS compared to females, but females in the SWPH region had higher rates of chlamydial infections compared to males.

- Cannabis use is higher among males and adults under 55 years old; females were more likely to report cannabis use for medical reasons.

One of the reports also includes detailed analysis of opioid addictions in Oxford County. In Oxford County, 400 to 1200 residents may be at risk of experiencing harms related to opioid and other substance misuse. Opioid-related deaths have increased slightly since 2005, with seven deaths (6.2 per 100,000 population) of Oxford County residents attributed to opioid use in 2016. Women in Oxford County experience higher rates of opioid-related hospitalization than men (26.4 versus 10.7 per 100,000 population), especially among those aged 45 to 65 years (63.6 per 100,000).

Program Manager of Foundation Standards at Southwestern Public Health explains why they released this data.

“To make informed decisions about resource allocation, we all need access to local data that describes the communities we serve, we hope that the reports we have produced will support some of the information and decision-making needs of the partners we work with including our municipal partners.”

You can read all of these reports online here.