The Community Health Improvement Process examined the health of Taylor County citizens based on Wisconsin’s eleven 2010 health priorities. Data was reviewed in relationship to state and national 2010 goals. For each health priority, an inventory was completed of current programs, services, and initiatives that support the 2010 health priority and related goals. All priorities influence both health and illness and each have a role in behavioral, environmental, and social aspects. Continued community efforts addressing these priorities are vital. They need support and growth to assure the continued improvement in the health of citizens in our county.

While the remaining health priorities were not selected as the top priorities for the Taylor County Community Health Improvement Plan, sustaining and building upon current community-wide efforts around all of the health priorities will be critical in order to assure continual improvement in the health of Taylor County citizens and communities.

Environmental and occupational health hazards continue to contribute significantly to disease, disability, and premature death in Wisconsin. Environmental and occupational health hazards include: exposure to toxic substances, noise, vibration and other hazardous agents in the environment or workplace that can create or aggravate health conditions.

Wisconsin’s 2010 Goals

• Decrease the incidence of illness resulting from contamination of food and drinking water.

• Reduce the incidence of illness and death from respiratory diseases related to, or aggravated by environmental and occupational exposures.

• Reduce by 30% the occurrence of occupational injury, illness, and death.

• Reduce by 50% the occurrence of illness and death related to chemical and biological contaminants in the home.

Taylor County Actions

• Continue to provide the food and safety licensing and inspection program.

• Continue to support local policies that promote the conservation of land and water, and protect watersheds.

• Continue to support public and private partnerships to reduce environmental and occupational health hazards.

• Continue to educate residents, health care providers, and employers of known environmental and occupational health hazards, and actions they can take to reduce known hazards.

Communicable disease remains a major cause of illness, disability, and death. New infectious agents and diseases are being detected, and some diseases once considered under control have re-emerged in recent years. Attention has recently been focused on increasing surveillance ability of communities to detect and respond to emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases such as food and waterborne outbreaks, pertussis, influenza, and biological threats.

Wisconsin’s 2010 Goals

• Assure 90% or more of children and adults are fully immunized.

• Reduce disease caused by reportable food borne and waterborne pathogens.

• Ensure the use of antibiotics and antimicrobials is appropriate.

Taylor County Actions

• Continue to educate the public and maintain awareness of the importance of hand washing.

• Continue to educate the public on the importance of immunizations as a method for the prevention of communicable disease.

• Continue emergency preparedness planning and quarterly meetings among all providers.

High-risk sexual behavior makes a person more susceptible to infectious diseases that include syphilis, gonorrhea, chlamydia, hepatitis B, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and hepatitis C, or can result in an unplanned pregnancy.

Wisconsin’s 2010 Goals

• Decrease to 30% the proportion of Wisconsin high school youth who report ever having sexual intercourse.

• Reduce the percentage of unintended pregnancies to 30%.

• Promote responsible sexual behavior throughout the life span to prevent sexually transmitted infection, including HIV.

Taylor County Actions

• Continue to support local clinics.

• Continue to educate the public on the possible consequences of high risk sexual behavior.

Injury is classified into two categories: unintentional and intentional. Unintentional includes injuries such as falls, burns, motor vehicle crashes, poisonings, and drowning. Intentional injuries include suicide, homicide, violent injury, and assaults such as sexual, intimate partner violence, and child and elder abuse.

Wisconsin’s 2010 Goals

• Reduce by 10% the number of children who are abused and neglected in Wisconsin.

• Decrease motor vehicle-related deaths and serious injuries.

• Reduce injury and deaths from falls among all populations in Wisconsin.

Taylor County Actions

• Support the efforts of current agencies and programs.

• Encourage local programs to develop bullying prevention and coping materials.

Mental health is inextricably linked with physical health and is fundamental to good health and human functioning. Mental health is a state of successful performance of mental function, resulting in productive activities, fulfilling relationships with other people, and the ability to adapt to change and to cope with adversity. Mental health is indispensable to personal well-being, family and interpersonal relationships, and meaningful contribution to community and society. Mental illness is the term that refers collectively to all diagnosable mental disorders. Mental disorders are health conditions that are characterized by alterations in thinking, mood, or behavior, or some combination thereof, which are associated with distress and impaired functioning and result in human problems that may include disability, pain, or death (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1999).

Wisconsin’s 2010 Goals

• Increase State-administered employee group health plans, Medicaid-funded programs, BadgerCare, and SSI managed care that will incorporate questions for mental health problems into their screening and referral processes.

• Increase by 15 percent of the public who will demonstrate an understanding that individuals with mental health disorders can recover through treatment to lead productive, healthy, and happy lives.

• Increase by 15 percent of the public who will demonstrate the belief that individuals with mental health disorders are capable of sustaining long-term productive employment.

• Increase by 10%, Wisconsin’s public mental health clients who have access to “best practice” and “evidence-based” mental health treatments.

Taylor County Actions

• Support the efforts of current agencies and programs.

• Continue public education efforts for mental illness screening.

• Continue efforts to remove the “stigma” attached with mental illness.

• Continue to update resources available for mental health services.

There is a direct relationship between the socioeconomic status of a population and its health. Those who are socio-economically better off, typically do better on most measures of health. Factors that impact the health of a population and the health of an individual are: age composition, family structure, educational level, gender, race, ethnicity/culture, and income.

Wisconsin’s 2010 Goals

• 70% or more of Wisconsin households will have annual income at or above 300% of the federal poverty level.

• No more than 5% of families will be at or below 200% of the federal poverty level.

• Increase the literacy rate in Wisconsin to 91%.

• No family will pay any more than 20% of their income toward day care expenses.

Taylor County Actions

• Support promotion of the region, especially to young adults.

• Encourage residents to invest in the area’s younger generation.

• Make the public aware of the poverty rates and amount of homeless people in the area.

• Support efforts to work towards affordable housing.

• Support the Taylor County Transportation Coordination Committee to find viable transportation for Taylor County residents to access resources and services.

Tobacco use is the single most preventable cause of disease and death in Wisconsin and the United States. Tobacco use is attributed to health care costs paid as a result of diseases caused by smoking, and also contributes to the cost of lost productivity. Recent national and state tobacco prevention and control efforts have been focused on preventing youth from starting to smoke, promoting cessation to those who are current smokers, and eliminating exposure to second-hand smoke.

Wisconsin’s 2010 Goals

• Reduce tobacco use among adolescents and adults, and decease the proportion of non-smokers exposed to second-hand smoke.

Taylor County Actions

• Continue to support partners’ efforts to prevent youth from starting to smoke, promote tobacco cessation services, and adopt clean indoor air policies in public settings.

• Continue to support health care providers’ assessments of tobacco use with youth, pregnant women, and adults in general.

• Continue to support state programs: First Breath, QuitLine, and WI Wins.

• Encourage public and private agencies, organizations, and businesses to adopt formal and informal policies to reduce and eliminate exposure to second-hand smoke in their environment.

RETURN TO TOP OF PAGE | RETURN HOME