leave it there. Thank you so much for joining us.
>> I'm so grateful. Thank you for your time.
>> Turning to health news, 20% of Wisconsinites are
self-reporting poor or fair physical health, and 1 in 7
say the same of their mental health. This is
according to the new state health assessment, which
comes out every five years. The Department of Health
Services is looking for ways to fill in the gaps.
Steven Potter spoke with the state health officer,
Paula Tran for Moore, beginning with what the
report is measuring. >> Overall, we are
measuring the things that shape Wisconsinites health
as well as the health outcomes. So we're looking
at things like demographic factors who lives in
Wisconsin, where they live. We're also measuring the
main causes of death, and we're also looking at all
of the factors that really shape an individual's
ability to be healthy and well, like economic factors,
looking at housing, looking at affordable access to
resources that people need, like food and
transportation, as well as their access to health care
directly. >> What are the most
significant health concerns facing Wisconsinites?
>> Yeah. Well, we know that Wisconsinites are dying
younger than before the pandemic, and we know that
there's a lot of challenges for Wisconsinites in
accessing both the daily resources that they need to
be healthy and well. So healthy food, having safe,
secure housing, having transportation to get them
to where they need, as well as having good access to
affordable care where they need it, when they need it.
>> One of the key points in your new report is that
Wisconsinites feel that there are major obstacles
to them receiving health care. They need to be
healthy. What are those barriers?
>> Yeah, some of the barriers are costs, and
access to insurance actually covers all the
kinds of care that they need, and cost and
insurance kind of go together. And we know that
most people access insurance through their
employer. So if they are experiencing gaps in
employment, that might insurance and their for
their access to care. When we look at care directly,
we know that in parts of our state, there are gaps
in kinds of care. So hospitals have closed over
the last several years and more rural areas. And even
in urban areas, we're seeing clinics and other
health care providers closed down or just just
based on, you know, the challenges it takes to run
a health care organization. So both getting to care in
a way that's accessible and access can be defined again,
by cost, by being able to drive to the care or and
also having the right kind of provider for the care
you need. >> A large number of
residents rated their own health as poor or fair.
About 20% of residents said that. Why are they feeling
this way? >> Yeah, it again, when we
look at all of the challenges that
Wisconsinites are facing, we know that overall costs
are rising across not just health care, but all daily
living needs. So that is putting a stress on
families. And because our incomes are also being
impacted and not rising as quickly for some, with the
inflation of other costs, Wisconsinites are being
forced to choose between these really important
things that they need, whether it's putting food
on the table with medications or accessing
care because there's a co-payment that they cannot
afford. So all of those things are contributing to
how Wisconsinites are feeling and to their health
outcomes, that we continue to be challenged around
obesity, obesity, hypertension that causes a
whole host of chronic diseases. So there are both
the drivers of health that are causing more stress for
Wisconsinites and accessing the things that they need
to be healthy and well are also exacerbating and
allowing other health outcomes to persist.
>> Along the lines of with mental health. What did
your report find? >> Yeah, we know that
Wisconsinites are struggling, they're
experiencing stress, and they're also reporting that
their mental health is is poor. And when they need
supports around mental health, it's very difficult
to access the kind of mental health care that
they need. And we know our mental health care
environment has a lot of room to improve around
coordinating around different kinds of care,
receiving the right referrals for the care you
need, and all across the care continuum, making sure
we are coordinated so that at any part of the entry of
that continuum, folks are accessing early and not
allowing some of those challenges to persist, to
become worse and potentially be in crisis
situations. >> Your report also
measures some good things. Residents who vote,
volunteer, or do favors for others. Why is it important
to measure these things and what did you find?
>> Yeah. What the current evidence tells us is
communities that are more engaged and active and
connected to each other, the healthier those
communities are. It both helps from a mental health
perspective. But when in a community, a neighbor is in
need of something, they're much more likely to be able
to have community support be responsive to those
needs. So there's a lot of different reasons why
community connectedness and community engagement and
being civically involved helps a community stay
healthier and access the resources it needs. So
that's an absolutely great finding for us that more