The 2023 Quad Cities Health Assessment. What does it mean for you?
If you have been active in anything in the realm of nutrition, wellness, mental health, then you are familiar with the Community Health Assessment. Conducted every three years since 2008, the CHA identifies strengths and gaps in public health, guiding priorities to foster a healthier community. From here, there are recommendations for not only what to prioritize for our community, but also potential ways to act.
There is a lot to discuss based on the information, but I wanted to try and give you elements that I think are most important. First off, mental health and access to health care (priorities 1 and 2 this year) are the same priorities from the previous assessment. The likely reason for this is that we as a community haven’t yet got the message that our system has holes in it. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, a system that I often recount in instances like this, would dictate safety to be abjectly the most important need. By that standard we are clearly failing, simply because we have less money to not only access health care but also to have a decent quality of life. Respondents of Access to Health Care commented not only a lack of money, but a lack of resources, education, as well as access to resources. This is almost an identical overview of the same issue from the previous assessment. Mental health challenges are continuously increasing, as a 30% increase in reported cases of depression from 2021 to 2024 underscores the growing mental health crisis in the region (iHeartRadio, 2024).
I am always looking to address our community’s health through the lens of physical activity and nutrition education because I see the value fitness and nutrition has had on my life. Equally important, I remember the state I was in when I did not value my health. I was at a truly low point, and thankfully I was able to find something that brought joy, discipline, and value back into my life. Many are not so lucky. I commonly refer to what I think are the most important matters for better health as ‘The Four Pillars’- Mental and Spiritual Health, Nutrition, Sleep, and Fitness. If one of those pillars is out of sorts, good luck with any goals you may have for yourself. To me the answer is simple-prioritize your fitness and nutrition. This would ease the burden on the health care side as there are fewer chronically sick people and/or people suffering from various cardiometabolic diseases. Exercise has been directly linked to increased cardiorespiratory fitness, and there is evidence that significant improvement in this area improves several biomarkers of health (Lin et. al, 2015). In addition, nutrition, particularly poor nutrition, is thought of as the leading cause for not only poor health but also increased health care spending and cost in the U.S. (Brandt et. al, 2023). It does not stop there; the effects of physical fitness have been studied more and more with respect to mental health improvements. There is a growing amount of research that demonstrates when used as an intervention, physical activity has improved sleep quality, mental health illnesses such as schizophrenia, as well as symptoms of depression and anxiety (Mahindru, A., Patil, P., & Agrawal, V., 2023)
So, now that you know other options exist to improve your health, what steps can you take? The great news is that there is not one specific answer to this. Maybe you join a commercial gym, and if you don’t want to fly solo, get a training partner. Accountability has been shown to do wonders (insert study on this here). Community fitness has increased in popularity in the past two decades, and there are several locations in our area to train with great programming, have fun, and be coached (I know of one in particular!). You could also commit your time to a yoga class, or cycling, or even 15-30 minutes a day to stretching and walking. The point is two-fold-start where you are and do something you enjoy. Once you’ve committed time to your fitness, you can then look to dial in your nutrition. My recommendation is to always take things one step at a time and instead of looking for immediate, huge results, address certain behaviors and watch how the improvement of those behaviors improves your health and well-being. As a member of this community, it is my continued commitment to provide people with opportunities to improve their health, and guidance with anything that will address the priorities set by the Community Health Assessment.
To learn more about local mental health trends and community resources, visit UnityPoint Health’s 2023 Community Health Assessment report and Quad Cities Business News for additional insights on the region’s mental health challenges.
Brandt, E. J., Mozaffarian, D., Leung, C. W., Berkowitz, S. A., & Murthy, V. L. (2023). Diet and Food and Nutrition Insecurity and Cardiometabolic Disease. Circulation research, 132(12), 1692–1706. https://doi.org/10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.123.322065
iHeartRadio. (2024, November 1). Mental health issues on the rise in the Quad Cities area. WHO Radio. https://whoradio.iheart.com/content/2024-11-01-mental-health-issues-on-the-rise-in-the-quad-cities-area/
Lin, X., Zhang, X., Guo, J., Roberts, C. K., McKenzie, S., Wu, W. C., Liu, S., & Song, Y. (2015). Effects of Exercise Training on Cardiorespiratory Fitness and Biomarkers of Cardiometabolic Health: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials. Journal of the American Heart Association, 4(7), e002014. https://doi.org/10.1161/JAHA.115.002014
Mahindru, A., Patil, P., & Agrawal, V. (2023). Role of Physical Activity on Mental Health and Well-Being: A Review. Cureus, 15(1), e33475. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.33475