Did you know that 29% of the adult population in Freestone County suffers from obesity? Does this statistic surprise you, or maybe not?
UT Health Northeast and the Episcopal Health Foundation (EHF) partnered together to perform a North East Texas Community Health Survey last year.
After a year of gathering survey information and health related data, they held a Health Forum at the Fairfield Civic Center on Friday, June 30th to present the compiled information to Freestone County residents.
Dr. Paul McGaha (left) with UT Health North East School of Community & Rural Health presented the statistics on Freestone County & North East Texas versus the State of Texas and the Nation.
Perhaps one of the most surprising facts found as a result of this study is that the 11 counties making up the North East region of Texas has the highest cases of Stroke, and third highest cases of Chronic Lower Respiratory Diseases as the Cause for Death in the Nation; but is ranked only 25th in cases of Cancer as Cause of Death.
According to the survey and health research data, 16% of residents in Freestone County are tobacco users, 78% get annual exams, 82% are insured, 17% have asthma, 13% have high blood pressure, and 13% suffer from anxiety.
The survey also expresses the fact that residents believe that Senior Citizens are the individuals in greatest need in this county; and Specialized Medical Care is the most difficult service to access in this area.
Next, Shao-Chee Sim (left), Vice President for Applied Research for EHF spoke about how the foundation offers specialized grants, does research, and tracks rural healthcare access in 57 counties in East Texas, to include Freestone County.
He expressed that the changes in rural areas need to be community driven, but that EHF will help to facilitate meetings, research, and finding someone to help guide community leaders in the right direction to achieve better health care access for area residents.
To learn more about the data collected about Freestone County and North East Texas, visit www.EpiscopalHealth.org.
UT Health Northeast can be found online at www.uthealth.org.
