Healthy People Focus Area
Purpose:
The Healthy People focus area was organized to promote physical and mental health in an effort to improve health outcomes for the residents of Kenosha County. This will be achieved through a unified, collaborative community approach to education and the provision of accessible, affordable preventive and responsive health care services.
The three primary areas of concentration include:
I. Eliminating health disparities
II. Ensuring that the underserved residents in Kenosha County have access to a primary care medical, dental or mental health providers
III. Ensuring that all residents of Kenosha County live longer, healthier lives with special consideration to the physically and mentally challenged
I. Health Disparities
Objective: To decrease barriers and health disparities between socio-economic, ethnic and underserved groups
Program Impact:
Provide programming that will:
a. Provide educational and preventative outreach programs for those least able to access services
b. Increase awareness and knowledge of critical health care issues and concerns as identified in United Way’s 2004 United Way Community Well Being Report and the 2007 Kenosha County Healthy People 2010 Annual Report (reports can be found on United Way’s website and the online application system resource center at www.kenoshaunitedway.org)
c. Provide early detection of health care issues and linkage to appropriate care for uninsured, low-income and at-risk populations
II. Access to Healthcare
Objective: Increase access to primary medical (including prenatal care), dental and mental health care services to underinsured and underserved populations with an emphasis on uninsured, low-income, and at-risk groups
Program Impact:
Provide programming that will:
a. Increase access to needed health related services including specialized services
b. Provide services and education that will help participants to improve and maintain their overall health
c. Provide initial and intermediate mental health crisis stabilization services
d. Provide access to effective counseling services that help to increase mental coping skills
III. Maximizing Independence
Objective: Provide access to programming that will assist physically and mentally challenged individuals to live longer and healthier lives while living in the least restrictive environment possible
Program Impact:
Provide programming that will:
a. Assist the medically fragile and elderly to remain in their homes for as long as possible through home care, appropriate nutrition, rehabilitative services, and transportation
b. Assist the mentally ill to receive case management, counseling and crisis stabilization services that will allow them to learn appropriate life skills and maintain independent residency
IV. Current Critical Issues:
Special consideration will be given to programs that address the following critical issues:
(Please refer to the 2007 Healthy People Kenosha County 2010 Annual Report for current indicators)
a. Reducing the infant mortality rate within the African American population:
United Way will give special consideration to programs that increase awareness and provide accessible, affordable prenatal care services to African American women (programs will be open to all ethnic groups, but will target pregnant African American women).
b. Reducing the incidence of diabetes among the underserved male African American and Hispanic populations:
United Way will give special consideration to programs that increase awareness and provide accessible, affordable health care services to the African American and Hispanic male populations (programs will be open to all ethnic groups, but will target the African American and Hispanic male populations).