EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (WEAU) – The health of those in Eau Claire County is being measures through a new set of data. Those numbers were released by County Health Rankings and Roadmaps.
The data in the study found Eau Claire County just above the state average, with ways to improve out lowest health rankings like mental health and substance misuse.
Director for the Eau Claire City-County Health Department, Lieske Giese, explained what these data studies look for.
“They look at all kinds of data points, those data points do include some things around mental health which has been a topic that we’ve been particularly interested in in Eau Claire because it is one of our health priorities.” she said.
35% of adults in Eau Claire County say they almost always feel lonely, and 25% say they rarely ever get social and emotional support they need.
Dr. Briana Rockler, assistant professor of public health and environmental studies at UW-Eau Claire, explains what she sees when looking at the studies’ findings.
“When I look at the statistics, I see high rates of loneliness, I see a lack of emotional support, and I see that points to a deeper issue with social connectedness within our community.” she said.
The study found that 24% of adults in Eau Claire County reported binge or heavy drinking, which is only a two percent decrease from last year.
“Changing the social norm around drinking in our community as well, creating social community events that aren’t centered around that culture.” Dr. Rockler said.
Dr. Rockler also says the county doesn’t offer enough healthcare providers.
“It’s not normalized, but you know what is normalized, drinking.” she said.
Giese said “Wisconsin as a whole has significant issues with alcohol use.”
Another point the study found, was that people are spending if not then almost half of their income on either housing or childcare. That finding also has a direct impact to their mental well-being.
“It’s all connected, this isn’t like experiencing one of these things alone isn’t impacting all of the other things.” Dr. Rockler said.
As a result of the studies’ findings, Dr. Rockler says that more investments in affordable housing and mental health infrastructures in the county can help many. She said “the access to mental services in Eau Claire is not as high as the rest of the state.”
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Officials speak on Eau Claire County health study
