Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA), 2021-2023
Mesa County is Unique. Our Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) is, too.
Health doesn't start in the doctor's office, it starts where we live, learn, work, and play.
We release a Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) every three years in partnership with non-profit hospitals in the County. This facilitates a more unified approach to improving health and quality of life in our community.
The Community Health Needs Assessment identifies opportunities to build community-driven solutions that make our residents, businesses, schools, and neighborhoods more resilient.
This approach is rooted in the belief that community-driven solutions should be a collaboration between community partners and across sectors to creatively address our most challenging areas of action.
Explore the 2021-2023 results
Community Profiles
Understanding differences within our own community can lead us to opportunities. Explore our diverse community in these community profile snapshots.
Economic stability provides a context in which Mesa County residents can have good health outcomes. In this section, we consider what economic self-sufficiency looks like in Mesa County, and whether current industries are providing the types of jobs needed to earn at a self-sufficiency level.
A solid educational foundation lays the groundwork for resources and resilience to strengthen health outcomes for Mesa County residents. Good educational outcomes—those that provide health literacy as well as economic stability—depend on successful navigation of elementary and secondary education. These years of education are in turn dependent on kindergarten readiness and high quality early childhood education opportunities.
Mesa County is a regional health care hub with a variety of providers and specialists. However, it’s important to look beyond the presence of services to see whether residents are actually able to access the care they require. In Mesa County, nine out of ten people are insured and have a regular source of care. Nonetheless, rates of utilization are lower than the state, largely because of cost barriers and lack of access to timely services.
Here we examine the built environment and environmental health factors in Mesa County by looking at the capacity of institutions within the county to effectively and efficiently execute their role. We find that in recent years, Mesa County residents have voted to prioritize funding for schools and public safety agencies, which have allowed them to update, expand, and create new facilities.
This section seeks to measure the relationships in our community (between residents and their friends, family, and co-workers, and with their community through civic engagement). Many of these measures are dependent on survey questions. We’ve included existing data measures to characterize social context and the questions we intend to answer as next steps.
Health implications include health behaviors and health outcomes. In this section, we explore the rates and key causes of illness, injury, and death in Mesa County. We find that when compared to Colorado as a whole, Mesa County has similar or worse rates of the majority of health behaviors and outcomes. Some bright spots are found in infectious disease rates, child welfare, adult asthma rates, and youth tobacco use and exposure.
Data analysis and takeaways
Areas of Strength
Some areas of strength point to resources Mesa County can leverage in tackling larger issues. Some indicate areas where intervention has been successful, and continued support has the opportunity to continue improving outcomes.
Areas of Action
By focusing on these actions, we intend to build collective community strength and resilience, leading to a positive impact on our community’s health behaviors, outcomes, and overall quality of life.
Explore More Data
Interactive data with comparison communities detailing graduation rates, demographic enrollment, and more.
Snapshot Key Takeaways
Areas where community action may yield measurable results and recommendations to get there.
Discover previous Community Health Needs Assessments
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Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA), 2021-2023
Community Services Building (Public Health)
510 29 1/2 RoadGrand Junction, CO 81504