Poll Reveals Region's Health Challenges Affecting Quality Of Life

By Garry Maisel  – President and CEO, Western Health Advantage

Capital region residents enjoy a high overall quality of life in a region thriving in areas like economic development and education, but tensions exist with concerns around homelessness, safety, and food insecurity, according to a recent poll.

The Livability Poll – produced by Valley Vision in partnership with CSU Sacramento’s Institute for Social Research – looked at attitudes on regional issues related to quality of life like land use and development, civic engagement, education and public health. The findings reveal a deeper understanding of resident priorities that can help business and civic leaders plan for the needs of growing and changing communities.

The region is at a crossroads. Respondents rate their quality of living highly but lack a common vision for how the region should grow. High cost of living is a pressing regional challenge, and poverty and growing economic disparities are becoming more visible and making a path forward unclear.  

At Western Health Advantage, we believe in the vital role the health care services industry plays in improving our communities. Several findings point to emerging health and wellness trends in our region.

• Food insecurity is an issue for 20 percent of regional respondents. This is about 8 percent higher than the overall U.S. rate. They said they ate less than they should have because they didn’t have enough money for food in the last 12 months.
• Women are twice as likely as men to report that they are food insecure. Renters and those making less than $30,000 report the highest degree of food insecurity across any other groups. The cost of food is the most significant contributing reason.
• More than 80 percent of respondents said that access to health and wellness facilities has either gotten better or stayed the same.
• When asked how local government should invest to improve public services, investment in local health care services ranked fifth out of 10 preferences, with 25 percent prioritizing increased investments.
• When asked what they love most about the region, respondents indicated health and wellness factors such as walkable neighborhoods and access to parks.

Focus on the future: Taking action

As a sponsor of the Livability Poll with the Sierra Health Foundation, we helped gather this information to guide business and government decision-making for future investments that can contribute to healthier communities. The report will be used as a benchmark to gauge progress and updated annually.

I encourage businesses to learn more about the many nonprofit and community-based organizations doing work on important quality of life issues, such as public health, affordable housing, social services, food security and job training.  At Western Health Advantage, we support organizations like Soil Born Farms, the Sacramento Food Bank and Family Services, and the River City Food Bank, which are doing critical work in the area of food insecurity.

Western Health’s work is rooted in our commitment to serve local communities where we live and work. By listening to our customers’ needs today, we can better deliver quality health care, and access to valuable preventive and wellness services in the future.

Get the full Livability Poll report and learn how your business can help improve health, livability and well-being for all at https://livability.valleyvision.org/

Headquartered in Sacramento, Western Health Advantage is a nonprofit HMO health plan founded in 1996 with a community-based mission by doctors and health care providers.  WHA serves 14 Northern California counties (Sacramento, El Dorado, Placer, Yolo, Colusa, Solano, Napa, Sonoma, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo, Alameda, Contra Costa and Santa Clara).

Published in the Sacramento Business Journal on April 1st, 2019