Child Care Accessibility and DemographicsChild Care Accessibility and Demographics The article describes the child care landscape in Mesa County, Colorado. It mentions that orange ZIP codes are classified as child care deserts, with darker shades indicating higher shortages. The lack of child care options in these areas poses significant challenges for families. Youth Well-being and Education The assessment highlights improvements in youth quality of life and insurance coverage. However, concerns remain in the areas of mental health and health equity. The county’s higher suicide rate, attributed to high gun ownership, is a particular concern. LGBTQ+ youth face disproportionately higher rates of suicidal thoughts. Public education is identified as a priority, with a decline in enrollment and chronic absenteeism being major issues. Despite the challenges, Mesa County Valley School District 51 is implementing a comprehensive plan to address these concerns. Health Access and Outcomes Overall, 49% of residents are satisfied with health care access, but disparities exist based on income and ethnicity. Emergency departments are often misused for non-urgent diagnoses, indicating a need for better access to lower-level care options. The county has a higher death rate than the state, with preventable causes related to health behaviors such as suicide, liver disease, and diabetes. However, the Hispanic and Latino populations in the region have lower mortality rates due to their younger age groups.
Photo courtesy of the Mesa County Public Health DepartmentOrange ZIP codes are classified as child care deserts. Darker shades of orange indicate higher shortages. Courtesy of the Mesa County Public Health Department▲
Every three years, the region collects, analyses and reports on a range of data on the health and well-being of local people, from access to health care to education.
Mesa County has made tangible progress in youth quality of life and insurance coverage, but still faces challenges in many areas when it comes to mental health and health equity.
The 128-page review included eight “priority findings”: economic stability, child care, housing, behavioral health providers, emergency department abuse, alcohol use, suicidality, and the impact of youth relationships on mental health and substance use.
The assessment stakeholders, which include all regional hospitals and other major healthcare providers, will each be tasked with selecting one of the priorities and collaborating on an action plan by the end of 2024.
SUICIDE & MENTAL HEALTH
The county’s suicide rate has far exceeded that of the state since the pandemic began: From 2020 to 2022, the county’s rate was 32.1 per 100,000 people, compared to 22.6 for Colorado and less than 14 for the rest of the country.
Twenty-five percent of adults in the region have been diagnosed with a depressive disorder. Suicide is the second leading cause of death among people under 65.
The county’s higher suicide rate can likely be attributed to its high gun ownership rate, the assessment found. Firearms increase the risk of suicide by more than three times, and 50 percent of adults in the area report owning a gun (compared to the statewide rate of 37 percent).
Between 2020 and 2022, approximately 83 suicides involving a firearm occurred in the region.
Mental health is significantly worse among the LGBTQ+ demographic. A statewide survey found that non-heterosexual residents were three times more likely to report suicidal thoughts than the general U.S. population. Transgender respondents were seven times more likely.
YOUTH & EDUCATION
The evaluation showed that there were several improvements in the area of youth care and quality of life. The percentage of children living in poverty has decreased significantly and the availability of childcare has slowly increased.
While the region still struggles with childcare, with 3.5 children per childcare space, certain areas like Clifton are no longer childcare deserts thanks to initiatives like the Clifton Community Center.
Improving public education was identified as a top priority, as only 24% of respondents agreed that they were satisfied with the state of education in Mesa County. This is likely reflected in how enrollment in local public school districts declined by 8.9% between 2018 and 2013, with less than 80% of the county’s youth enrolled in any of the districts.
Accordingly, Mesa County Valley School District 51 has developed a 25-year facilities master plan that identifies $582 million in projects to be completed over the next decade. These projects include basic repairs, maintenance, safety improvements at all schools, targeted improvements to learning environments, and improvements at Central High School and Fruita Monument High School.
At the same time, chronic absenteeism has increased during the pandemic. Nearly one in five (19%) of all local public school students have been persistently truant (four or more absences in a month, 10 unexcused absences in a year) through the 2022-2023 school year — 4% higher than the state average.
Regardless, the percentage of adults 25 and older who complete high school is about 92% in Mesa County and Colorado, higher than the national rate of 89%.
BEHAVIOUR, ACCESSIBILITY, RESULTS
Overall, 49% of residents reported being satisfied with their access to quality health care, but that satisfaction varied by income level and ethnicity. Only 39% of Hispanic or Latino residents and those in households earning less than $50,000 were satisfied, compared to 61% of those in households earning more than $150,000.
While 91.6% of county residents have health insurance, nearly 5% of residents with private or employer insurance and 7% of residents with Medicaid, CHP+ or Medicare coverage were told by a potential new health insurer that the insurer did not accept their type of plan.
The review also found that emergency departments are often misused. Between February 2023 and January 2024, about 40% of Monument Health emergency department visits were for non-urgent diagnoses such as headaches, and 5% were for symptoms that could have been prevented by accessing a lower category of care earlier.
According to the report, this means that 45% of visits could have been redirected to an emergency department or primary care provider, reducing the cost of care and patient burden in emergency departments.
Another striking statistic is that the county has a higher death rate than the state. According to the assessment, many of the leading causes of death are preventable and are strongly influenced by health behaviors.
“All causes of death for which Mesa County had higher rates (years of potential life lost) than Colorado are strongly and directly influenced by health behaviors: suicide is influenced by access to mental health care and gun culture, chronic liver disease and cirrhosis are influenced by alcohol use, and type 2 diabetes and heart disease are strongly correlated with diet and exercise.”
In contrast, the region’s Hispanic and Latino populations face lower mortality rates, largely due to their younger age group.
