Stilly Valley Health Survey
Heather Logan--Cascade Valley Health Foundation
Last spring we had a visit from Heather Logan, president of the Cascade Valley Health Foundation, and Scott Forslund with the Providence Institute for a Healthier Community, encouraging all of us to complete the Stilly Valley Health & Well Being Survey. At our meeting on January 2, Heather shared the results with the club.
The goals of the survey was to create a well-being baseline in the valley to help shape the regional identity as a community committed to well being. Funding efforts will be prioritized based on the needs of the community.
Only 517 people took the survey but Heather indicated that it is a statistically high number for this type of survey. Arlington and Darrington residents participated. Snohomish County Hospital District 3#, which now does business as Stilly Valley Health Connections (Formerly Cascade Valley Hospital and Clinics) was one of the promoters of the survey along with the Foundation.
Overall the Stilly Valley, with a score of 7.33 was slightly below the county level of 7.53. This would be a C-. The difference was caused by a lower overall satisfaction with physical health and a lower self-reported overall well-being.
A factor in the results could have been that the largest two responding groups were clients of the Community Resource Center and from service clubs/organizations in the community. Heather expressed that those persons that were connected to our community generally scored very high in satisfaction, The opposite was the case for those less connected who used the community as primarily their 'bedroom".
Some bullet points:
- 46% do not feel personally connected--especially women, adults under 35 , people of color and single-parent households.
- 35% feel they lack good access--especially men, people of color and people without health coverage.
- 43% are dissatisfied with support for those with an existing medical condition--especially younger adults, people of color, people with basic needs issues, families and single parent households, and people with less tenure in the Valley.
Heather did announce that the Hospital District has recently purchased the Alfy's building at Smokey Point for its offices and as a place to offer classes to help with some of the gaps learned in the survey. Stilly Valley Health Connections is the program name. For more information, click HERE
