Montgomery County releases Community Health Assessment report

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On Thursday, Montgomery County released its first-ever Community Health Assessment report, with the goal of developing a plan to improve health outcomes for residents.

In 2024, more than 3,300 people responded to the surveys and participated in focus groups conducted by the county’s Department of Health and Human Services Office of Public Health, and its partners. Community members’ answers were used to address questions about health concerns and create a profile of health and wellness in the county.

“As the health department, we see a lot of data about health statistics, what has already happened, what exists,” said Christina Miller, administrator of the Office of Public Health, at the Montgomery County Commissioners meeting on Thursday. “But you all know that often our residents, the people in our communities, we see and experience things way before they show up in health statistics. So this [assessment] helps us to understand a little bit more about what our residents are seeing and experiencing in their lives and in their communities, to help prevent some of those health statistics from rising.”

Topics addressed in the report include health status, maternal, parental and infant health, substance abuse and alcohol use, access to health care, health conditions, social needs and social determinants of health, and quality of life.

The findings will be shared at community conversations starting in the spring, and will inform officials’ work over the next year to create a Community Health Improvement Plan.

“This isn’t something that lives on a website or on a shelf,” Miller said. “We’re actually going to be going out and holding community conversations to share back what we learned and to get a little bit more perspective.”

In the second half of this year, community members and organizations will form action groups to address priorities and next steps for improving health outcomes and addressing the concerns identified in the report.

Here are a few key takeaways from the report.

1. Mental health, chronic disease and environmental safety are among residents’ top health concerns.

Mental health care was a top concern for nearly 40% of respondents. For 31.9% of residents who participated in the survey, chronic disease is a primary concern, and 29.6% of respondents said environmental safety was top of mind.

Primary health concerns varied by township and borough. Here is a map of the geographic breakdown based on where respondents live and what their concerns were.

2. Health and wellness in Montgomery County is favorable compared to the rest of the state and the country, but health disparities exist for different demographic groups and communities.

According to research included in the report, chronic and infectious disease rates are usually lower in Montgomery County than in the rest of the commonwealth. On average, Montco residents live four years longer than the national life expectancy (80.1 compared to 76.4 years).

But the report shows that some groups of people struggle to access health care and face daily challenges in meeting their needs.

“That same variability that exists across the state, across the commonwealth and across the country exists within Montgomery County, right?” Miller said. “So if we look at something like diabetes prevalence or asthma prevalence, for example, even if you look at life expectancy across the county, you will see variability in those statistics across the county when you look at the municipal or even the census tract level.”

As an example of health disparities documented in the survey, Miller cited that Black and Hispanic or Latina residents are less likely to access prenatal care in the first trimester of pregnancy compared to white residents.

3. Difficulties meeting those everyday needs can negatively impact health in the long term.

More than 20% of respondents said they struggle to pay for health care, 17.2% struggle to pay for utilities, and 16.2% face challenges paying for housing. Close to 16% had or have difficulty finding a job.

Those daily stressors add up, Miller said.

“Everyday stress over time has an impact on our health and well-being, on our mental health and our physical well-being,” she said. “It actually affects us, really, at the cellular level. It affects our body’s ability to fight off infection, for example, and stay healthy and well. So it’s important to have an understanding, really, of not just the health statistics, the prevalence of conditions, but also what’s driving those.”

4. Housing and health are connected.

More than four out of 10 survey respondents (44%) said it is difficult or somewhat difficult to find housing that does not cost too much for them. Nearly one in 10 respondents (9.1%) were worried about losing their housing in the future.