V. Key Health challenges, Recommendations, & Potential Areas for Additional ANALysis
This report only scratches the surface of what is possible as only a portion of the data that was collected on the Natick Household survey was analyzed and reported in any great depth. The primary purpose of this report is to highlight areas of possible concern, target further analysis efforts, and provide some guidance as to where the Town and the larger community should focus there limited resources in the future. We are confident that as you become more familiar with this report and with the data from the Natick survey that you will have questions and see the possibility for further analysis. We encourage this questioning and urge you to delve deeper into areas that you are concerned about or in which you are interested.
The following is a listing of the community challenges that we have drawn from our initial review and analysis of the data. We have also provided a listing of areas where additional research may be warranted.
Key health challenges By Age Group
Adult Health
Older Adult Health
Cardiovascular disease and cardiovascular risk factors Cardiovascular disease and cardiovascular risk factors
Diabetes Diabetes
Lack of physical activity Heavy drinking
Overweight & Obesity Injury Prevention
Falls
Household safety
Asthma for women Disability
Cancer and cancer screening Transportation
Mental Health - depression, anxiety, sleep deprivation Lack of older adult home health and day care services
Heavy drinking Need to consider ways to address high housing costs and create more affordable housing options
Injury prevention
Seat belt use
Drunk driving
Gun safety
Lack of child and elder care services
Need to consider ways to address high housing costs and create more affordable housing options
Potential Areas for Additional Research & Data ANALysis
Children & Adolescent Health
Targeted analysis with regard to child-parent as well as adolescent-parent communication.
Explore issues of weight and body image for children and adolescents. Conduct Body Mass Index calculations for children and adolescents.
Consider expanding the scope of questions asked on the Natick Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System Project
Conduct observational studies with regard to public safety issues (e.g. helmet & seat belt use)
Explore geographic variations in the data
Adult Health
Conduct further research on adults with multiple health risk factors and co-morbid conditions (e.g. diabetes, heart disease, depression, anxiety, high blood cholesterol, high blood pressure, lack of physical activity, smoking, etc.)
Conduct further research on asthma, particularly in women.
Look at mental health by age groups and by various other demographic and health characteristics
Conduct observational studies with regard to public safety issues (e.g. helmet & seat belt use)
Explore geographic variations in the data
Older Adult Health
Conduct further research with regard to social isolation, depression, injury, and disease prevalence
Explore issues of isolation and medications management in older adult population
Explore geographic variations in the data
Health & Related Services
Conduct further research with regard to adult day care needs and available services
Conduct further research with regard to child day care needs and available services
Conduct further research on local public transportation needs and usage
Identify and learn more about Natick's low-income families
Identify and learn more about Natick’s disabled population
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