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Caswell County health department presents 2023 community health assessment, highlights youth activities and race relations
Summary
Health educator Nicole Gibson told county commissioners the 2023 Community Health Assessment reaffirmed priorities from 2019 — structured activities for youth and improved race relations — and summarized demographic and health trends the department will track in annual State of the County Health reports.
Nicole Gibson, health educator with the Caswell County Health Department, presented the county's 2023 Community Health Assessment (CHA) and the 2024 State of the County Health report during the Aug. 18 Board of Commissioners meeting.
Gibson said the CHA, conducted every four years and required by the NC Division of Public Health and the Local Health Department Accreditation Board, is "done by the community, not on the community," and is intended to identify key health problems and inform public health decisions. She said the 2023 CHA retained the same two top priorities identified in 2019: structured activities for youth and improved race relations.
The CHA packet provided to commissioners included a one-page summary Gibson reviewed. She said Caswell County's population grew 0.27% from 2019 to 2022, the median age is 47, and 26.3% of residents are in the county's defined vulnerable population (younger than 5 or 65 and older). Gibson said per-capita income in Caswell County is $27,503 versus $37,641 for North Carolina and that the county's median household income is $56,999 (North Carolina: $67,481). She reported the Hispanic population rose from 3.8% to 4.8% and that the 2020'21 high school graduation rate was 86.9%.
On health outcomes, Gibson said the top three leading causes of death in the county were diseases of the heart, cancer, and chronic lower respiratory diseases; top hospitalization and emergency department visits for children under 17 included poisoning and unintentional falls. She identified neighboring peer counties (Greene and Chowan) and neighboring counties (Alamance, Person, Rockingham) used for comparison. Data sources included County Health Rankings & Roadmaps, the State Center for Health Statistics, the County Health Data Book and the American Community Survey.
Gibson described measures of progress tracked in the State of the County Health reports produced in non-CHA years. For youth activities she listed formation of a youth council, trauma-informed community-building trainings (for example, Question, Persuade, and Refer), and an education collaborative that formed four work groups (sense of belonging, academic readiness, non-school hours and technology) to expand youth programming and inclusive spaces.
On race relations, Gibson said the county has held trauma-informed trainings including the Racial Equity Training Institute (phase 1), community dialogues on racial healing, a film showing, and other reconnecting events.
Gibson noted two emerging issues: an increased number of influenza deaths statewide between the 2022'23 and 2023'24 seasons (196 versus 319 deaths statewide, with 63% of the 319 deaths in the vulnerable population), and a local vaping-education alternative to suspension program, My Healthy Futures, being implemented at Dillard Middle School and Bartlett Yancey High School that offers an online program in lieu of out-of-school suspension.
Commissioners asked questions about labor force and unemployment figures and Gibson answered the CHA data are based on 2022 sources and may have changed since then. The board received the report and Gibson offered to answer follow-up questions.
The county will publish annual State of the County Health updates in years without a full CHA; Gibson said the next full CHA is scheduled to be conducted in 2027 with a 2028 release.
