Santa Clara County supervisors green-light public well being evaluation of Latino and Hispanic residents | Information

The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors final week greenlit the creation of a brand new, complete evaluation of the well being of the Latino/Hispanic neighborhood within the county, one thing that hasn’t been executed in over 10 years.

In keeping with the county, Latino residents have been disproportionately affected by poor well being outcomes, particularly throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

Supervisor Sylvia Arenas was behind the decision for a brand new evaluation.

“Santa Clara County’s Latino neighborhood has confronted disproportionate publicity to disaster after disaster, from the COVID-19 pandemic to the housing disaster, and past,” Arenas stated in a press release launched by the county on Tuesday, April 18. “This well being evaluation will give our neighborhood and coverage makers the data and extra importantly the coverage suggestions they should take actual and sustained motion to appropriate the disparity.”

The brand new evaluation can be undertaken by the county Public Well being Division and be compiled via neighborhood engagement and complete knowledge assortment and evaluation. A report on the findings is due again to the Board of Supervisors within the spring of 2024.

Again in 2012, the county produced a report entitled Standing of Latino/Hispanic Well being, a complete have a look at the well being of its Latino/Hispanic residents, which then made up 27 p.c of the county’s inhabitants, based on the report.

The report estimated that by 2050, 4 of each 10 county residents can be Latino/Hispanic.

The 2012 report was primarily targeted on findings fairly than options, so along with gathering new knowledge, the brand new evaluation will embody suggestions and “calls to motion,” based on the county.

“These suggestions ought to present alternatives for coverage makers to accurately align future investments to dramatically enhance the well being of the Latino neighborhood in our county,” reads the county’s abstract given to the Board of Supervisors.

Some key findings from the 2012 report confirmed that Latino and Hispanic residents had much less training, decrease incomes and better unemployment charges than whites or Asians in Santa Clara County. They have been additionally extra seemingly than different racial and ethnic teams to reside in overcrowded or severely overcrowded households, spending 30 p.c or extra of their earnings on hire or a mortgage.

Well being findings within the 2012 report discovered that Latino and Hispanic residents have been extra seemingly than another racial/ethnic teams to be obese or overweight, have diabetes, have decrease ranges of exercise and poorer vitamin, have greater charges of teenybopper births and have been extra more likely to expertise some kind of harm and violence greater than another racial/ethnic teams.

The report did discover some well being benefits that the Latino/Hispanic neighborhood had, similar to an extended life expectancy than whites or African People, decrease charges of most cancers, and half the blood stress fee of whites and African People.

For the brand new evaluation, the Public Well being Division is requested to evaluate knowledge protecting COVID-19, continual diseases, gender-based violence, and environmental well being components similar to publicity to pesticides, lead and different chemical compounds. Knowledge must also be collected about entry to medical health insurance and care, behavioral well being care, well being components associated to substandard housing or homelessness, entry to reproductive well being, and vitamin, the county stated.