By Dr. Alex Craker
It’s that time again: Chippewa, Dunn, and Eau Claire counties have recently completed Community Health Assessments, a series of reports done every three years. Now we’re asking our community to explore the data and take action.
This new assessment tells us which health issues are of highest concern for people in Eau Claire, Dunn, and Chippewa counties. Alcohol misuse and lack of access to childcare/unaffordable childcare were among the top five health issues for all three counties. Read about other top health issues by checking out the reports at
the links below.
We didn’t only investigate traditional health issues like nutrition and tobacco use. We also looked at the things that impact people’s ability to be healthy – things like public transportation, which lets people access their doctor’s office or grocery store – and good local jobs, which let us afford healthy food and time to exercise.
We hope you’ll flip through your county’s report – you’ll find more data and insights there. You can check out the reports here:
• Chippewa County: bit.ly/2024chipassessment
• Dunn County: bit.ly/2024dunnassessment
• Eau Claire County: bit.ly/2024ecassessment
You can also get involved! You’re strongly encouraged to join your local health coalition – groups that are working directly to tackle these issues:
The community health assessments were conducted in partnership by the Chippewa County Department of Public Health, Dunn County Health Department, Eau Claire City-County Health Department, HSHS Sacred Heart Hospital, HSHS St. Joseph’s Hospital, Marshfield Clinic Health System, Mayo Clinic Health System, United Way
of Dunn County, and United Way of the Greater Chippewa Valley.
Dr. Alex Craker is a public health planner at the Eau Claire City-County Health Department.
Submitted.
