Introduction
Community well-being assessments are often based on public health data. This information is a valuable resource that provides tools for assessing the population’s standard of living and health. This analysis presents the latest data from New Jersey’s Atlantic County across five major public health areas. The county data will be equal to the state average, providing a complete picture of the health status of the county’s population. Thus, trends and measures to improve the health of society, aimed at promoting a healthy lifestyle and improving citizens’ standard of living, have been identified.
Births and Infant Health
Atlantic County provides information on the number of live births among women aged 15 to 17. The county’s reported rate is 6.3, higher than the New Jersey state average of 4.1 (Department of Health [DoH], n.d.). In addition, three more children per 3,000 die under 1 year of age. According to Chamie (2023), pregnancy during adolescence, i.e., premature pregnancy, is among the most contributing factors to high infant mortality rates. Thus, these indicators reveal potential problems with adolescent sex education in the area. Comprehensive sexuality education programs in schools and awareness campaigns are needed to address this issue. These actions can help reduce the number of unwanted teen pregnancies and the prevalence of this problem.
Environmental Public Health Tracking
In the area of environmental public health, Atlantic County’s statistics are almost identical to state ones. For instance, there are no noticeable differences in either naphthalene or perchloroethylene outdoor concentrations in the county’s outdoor air compared to New Jersey’s overall situation. The only area where the county lags behind the state is the percentage of people owning personal carbon monoxide detectors: 81.1% compared to 86% of the state (DoH, n.d.). Nevertheless, the difference is insignificant and can be addressed with enough community effort.
Healthy New Jersey 2020
Despite the high availability of health insurance, the government must ensure that coverage for medical interventions remains affordable. According to Healthy New Jersey 2020, the percentage of residents without health insurance is 8.8% in Atlantic County, slightly higher than 8.7% in the state (DoH, n.d.). Thus, information programs can be included to inform the public about available insurance schemes and cooperation with health care providers.
Leading Causes of Death
The most common cause of death in the state is heart disease, which is affected by low physical activity, poor nutrition, and limited access to medical care. For example, the number of deaths from cardiovascular disease (ICD-10: I00–I09, I11, I13, and I20–I51) in Atlantic County is 208.3 deaths per 100,000 standardized population, compared to 166.1 in New Jersey (DoH, date n.d.). To address this problem, campaigns to promote healthy lifestyles and raise awareness of the risks of cardiovascular diseases can be carried out, which will help to understand mortality from cardiovascular diseases.
Overall Community Health
Concerning the general health of a society, socioeconomic status and access to health care are the main factors influencing health assessment. Thus, the percentage of adults reporting good or excellent health in Atlantic County is 80.6%, but below the New Jersey state average of 87.7% (DoH, n.d.). These data point to the need to increase access to health services, improving society’s overall understanding of health.
Conclusion
Finally, an analysis of Atlantic County’s epidemiological data revealed notable public health trends for the county and the state of New Jersey as a whole. Birth and infant mortality statistics that tend to be worse in Atlantic County indicate the need for more sophisticated sex education. Moreover, the leading causes of death and overall community well-being indicators raise alarms in terms of the county’s current lifestyle promotion initiatives’ efficiency, implying the need for reform. Lastly, Atlantic County’s health outcomes based on environmental health and comparison with Healthy New Jersey 2020 goals are only slightly behind the state ones. This indicates a moderate need to improve the initiatives within the county moderately.
References
Chamie, J. (Ed.) (2023). The lives and deaths of infants: America’s discouraging disadvantage. In Population levels, trends, and differentials: More important population matters (pp. 305-307). Springer Nature Switzerland.
Deparment of Health. (n.d.). NJSHAD – Community dashboard builder. New Jersey State Health Assessment Data. Web.
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