A community health needs assessment of Brevard County found that food insecurity, health care coverage, safe living conditions, and other social determinants of well-being have all gotten worse since the start of the COVD-19 pandemic.
Sponsored by the Space Coast Health Foundation and prepared by the Professional Research Consultants Inc, the community health needs assessment has been performed every three years since 2004 in Brevard County. The intention is to uncover and highlight healthcare problems on the Space Coast.
Survey questions are used to analyze social determinants of health which are underlying factors that impact peoples’ state of well-being, according to the US Department of Health and Human Services. Access to transportation, safe housing, healthy food, clean water, education, and jobs are all factors that can impact peoples’ physical and mental states.
Through the phone and the internet, 1,365 people from North, Central, and South Brevard were asked questions about these various factors as well as their emotional state. The survey’s sample size mirrored Brevard County’s gender, age and race demographics.
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Across the board, the individuals whose social determinants were in the worst condition were very low income, low income, female, LGBTQ+, or Black. For example, LGBTQ+ individuals had the highest rate of experiencing symptoms of chronic depression.
Geographic location also had an impact. For example, those living in South Brevard faced housing insecurity at a higher rate than those in Central and North Brevard. But those living in center of the county had higher rates of unsafe or unhealthy living conditions — such as consistent water leaks, pests, and mold issues — than those in North and South Brevard.
Anita Stremmel, assistant director of the Department of Health in Brevard, said the biggest takeaway from the data will be “to establish some priorities within health equity that many of the people here can help make some improvements on those priority areas.”
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Bruce Lockwood, Senior Vice President, Community Health at Professional Research Consultants Inc, emphasized that the survey is a snapshot of the Space Coast.
“As your community changes, these are snapshots of realities as those changes are happening,” Lockwood said.
Below is a breakdown of the findings of key determinants.
Mental health
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In 2022, a total of 27% of individuals reported having poor or fair mental health
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Those receiving mental health treatment went up to 23.9% in 2022. Whereas in 2019, 13.1% received mental health treatment
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People unable to receive mental health services when needed went up to 15.3% in 2022 from 9.2% in 2019
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About 35% of people also said they were restricted in what activities they could partake in because of a physical or mental health problem in 2022. A figure that increased from 31.8% in 2019
Access to food and health care
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Residents who experienced food insecurity rose to 32.3% in 2022. In 2019, that figure was 29.1%.
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The number of people who found it hard to access affordable fresh food went up to 27.8% since 2019 from 23.9%
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Total number of overweight or obese people went up to 68.4%. In 2019 that figure was 68.8%
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The number of people without access to insurance which had been decreasing since 2004, went up to 17.2% since 2019 when it was 15.8%
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The number of individuals who found it difficult to access health care shot up to 54.7% compared to 2019 when that figure was 45.8%
Housing and financial resilience
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In Brevard County, 30% of individuals do not have enough cash on hand to handle a $400 emergency expense
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When it comes to housing, 34.3 “Always/Usually/Sometimes” had concerns about making a rent or mortgage payment in the last year. That figure was 28.4% in 2019 and 28.9% in 2016
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About 17.8% of residents were living in unhealthy or unsafe conditions— for example, had consistent water leaks, pests and mold issues— this past year
Amira Sweilem is the data reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Sweilem at 386-406-5648 or asweilem@floridatoday.com.
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This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Snapshot of Space Coast reveals health, housing and other disparities
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