Residents healthy but not immune to mental health, drug problems

Ozaukee County residents are in general among the healthiest people in the state but they face a mental health and substance use crisis, according to a recently released health improvement plan.

“The most consistently identified concern across data, surveys and community engagement activities,” is poor mental health and a lack of access to services, according to a Washington–Ozaukee Community Health Improvement Plan to be presented to the Ozaukee County Board on Wednesday, Jan. 21.

Hand-in-hand with that concern are “ongoing opioid-related impacts,” which officials have called a “crisis” in Ozaukee County.

A third concern identified by the survey is poor nutrition, lack of physical activity and obesity, the report said.

“A notable portion of adults report no leisure-time physical activity, with obesity rates remaining steady,” the report from the Washington Ozaukee Public Health Department said.

Other factors affecting the health of county residents include housing affordability, child-care costs and transportation, which affect quality of life, particularly for low-income households, youth, older adults and some minority populations, it concluded.

The number of opioid deaths per year in Ozaukee County were 15 in 2023, up from 10 in 2022 but down from a peak of 19 in 2021, according to state data included in the report.

The health improvement plan is a state-required, three-year planning document that identifies priority health issues and guides collaborative action among public health, health-care systems, nonprofits, schools and other community partners,” Public Health Director Kim Buechler told members of the county Health and Human Services Committee earlier this month. The plan is based on 232 responses to a survey in both counties, including 117 in Ozaukee County, and multiple listening sessions held last summer.

Respondents identified strong existing assets as hospitals, parks, schools and nonprofit organizations.

The plan will be used to help guide health care providers, government and nonprofit leaders and other officials over the next three to five years in allocating resources.

“This plan serves as a long-term roadmap to collaborate and coordinate with key community partners to address identified health priorities and target resources in a systematic way to improve community health,” Buechler said. “This planning is critical to building and strengthening partnerships with organizations for collective impact.”

Only 2.5% of Ozaukee County residents are without health care coverage, she noted.

Besides surveys and listening sessions, the study also used state health rankings and U.S. census data.

  Surveys were distributed at area senior meal sites, local libraries and schools.

The majority of respondents were women and people 65 and older.

Forty-eight people attended three two-hour listening sessions in July and August. A fourth session was canceled due to expected low attendance.

Participants represented at listening sessions included non-profits, hospitals, residents, law enforcement, universities and county service partners.

One topic examined was the role schools, nonprofits and churches play in improving the health of county residents.

“These crucial groups can identify members of the community who would benefit from health services,” one participant said. “School teachers spend a great deal of time with children and may notice behavior that a parent may not. Someone noticing an elderly neighbor not attending church could raise concern.”

“Youth public health education is needed at schools to get ahead of how to troubleshoot issues later in life,” the report quoted another person as saying.

Buechler said the next steps include convening a steering committee to develop a plan to review the data further, organize more listening sessions and “complete a series of activities focused on assessing the drivers of health in the community for various populations.”