Vital Signs Sonoma County

Posted by Rich Randolph 
on Jul 19, 2015
 

Vital Signs~~~~~~~

 
 
 
Enlightening, objective, directing:  Each of these describe the process and criteria being monitored throughout Sonoma County to better assess and optimize resident’s health.
 
Ms. Lewis provided a well organized presentation of Sonoma County’s partnership with Measurement of America, a national database, statistical think tank established to assist agencies in identifying common health challenges and developing action plans to meet public health goals.
 
Sonoma County, like others across the country provide data on their local education, income and longevity statistics.  Identifying information from discrete geographic areas, demographics of educational achievement levels,  income and longevity are correlated.  In Sonoma County, the composite scores of these three indicators on a scale of 1 to 10 ranges from a high of 8.40 for East Bennett Valley and a low of 2.79 in Roseland Creek. 
 
These statistics help policy makes debate where resources are best applied to increase health in studied neighborhoods.  A few findings are noteworthy:
 
  1. High School graduates, on average, live 5 years less than college graduates.
  2. For each $12,500 annual income, an additional year of life is added to one’s expectancy.
So what can Sonoma County do to promote a healthy, sustainable way of life?  Promote smoking cessation programs, encourage neighborhood empowerment,  workforce development to prepare youth for meaningful careers, just to name a few:                                                                                                   
Get involved; improve your neighborhood, mentor a troubled, but aspiring youth, advocate for better preschool access.  Improve business development/permit processing to expedite job growth.
 
For a more detailed look at the County’s Report, navigate to http://www.measureofamerica.org/sonoma/
 
 
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