Lane County community health assessment finds worsening housing, access and youth mental‑health gaps

Lane County Public Health staff presented the county’s 2024–25 community health assessment to the Board of County Commissioners on Sept. 25, outlining widespread challenges including housing affordability, declining access to care and high rates of poor mental and emotional health among youth.

The assessment, produced through the Live Healthy Lane collaboration of county public health, coordinated care organizations and other community partners, draws on three assessment streams: a community partner survey of more than 120 organizations, an online community survey with more than 600 responses, and multiple focused data reviews and focus groups conducted between January 2024 and May 2025. Presenters said the design team met every two weeks during the assessment period to guide outreach and interpret findings.

Live Healthy Lane’s work identified recurring themes across the assessments: many residents lack livable incomes and cannot meet basic needs; affordable housing is scarce; access to health care has declined since 2020; youth mental health is a growing concern; climate impacts are increasing and unequally distributed; and structural inequities persist for people who are Black, Indigenous, Latine, Asian, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander,…