Washtenaw County's Public Health Department conducted its first comprehensive Latino Health Survey and the results show that group needs to make improvements.
In Spanish, the survey is called Encuesta Buenos Vecinos or Good Neighbors Survey, over 500 Latinos in Washtenaw County participated.
The survey revealed that Latinos have a poor overall health status and less access to healthcare than other Washtenaw county residents as a whole.
Among the Findings
The team identified ten priority issues for action:
- Lack of physical activity
- Unintended pregnancy
- Poor nutritional habits
- Depression
- Substance abuse
- Poor vision and dental care
- Lack of community organization
- Low level of education
- Lack of parental attention, guidance and involvement
Adreaane Waller from the Washtenaw County Health Department, explains there are steps that
can be taken to address the issue. Those include hiring more personnel that speaks Spanish as well as having Latinos take more initiative to see a health professional.
However, one of the Community Leadership Team members, Felipe Riaño explained that many in the community have two or three jobs and makes it difficult for them to visit a doctor.
There are about 12,000 Latinos currently living in Washtenaw county.
Like 89.1 WEMU on Facebook and follow us on Twitter— Jorge Avellan is the Ann Arbor beat reporter, and anchor for 89.1 WEMU News. Contact him at 734.487.3363 or email him studio@wemu.org
