Report: Mental health 'critical' concern in Ottawa County

OTTAWA COUNTY — Mental health and affordable housing are among the primary concerns of Ottawa County residents, healthcare providers and key stakeholders, according to a recent report.

Results of the latest Ottawa County Community Health Needs Assessment were released Wednesday, May 22. The survey is conducted every three years by Healthy Ottawa to identify the health needs of Ottawa County residents. Healthy Ottawa is comprised of several local agencies and hospitals.

The latest iteration of the CHNA interviewed or surveyed more than 1,500 adults in the county, including community members, healthcare professionals and community leaders, throughout 2023. To view the full 224-page report, visit healthyottawa.org.

At the top of the list are persisting and growing concerns about mental health.

“That is what stood out as the biggest, largest, most critical need for our community,” said Mikaela Andrea, director of behavioral health and care management at Holland Hospital and a member of the Healthy Ottawa committee.

“Ottawa County adults are reporting some of the highest levels of psychological distress, depression and anxiety since we first started the CHNA in 2011,” Andrea said. “That data really supports the narrative that we hear around the community as healthcare professionals as well.”

Data from the behavioral risk factor survey — a phone survey of the county’s general population — shows a trend in mental health. More than 1,000 people partook in the survey, with 16.5% reporting 14 or more days of poor mental health a month — the highest percentage yet in a category that’s increased every CHNA.

Additionally, 34.5% reported “mild to severe psychological distress,” up from 19.8% in 2020. The percentage of people receiving treatment for that distress increased from 39.2% to 43.4%.

Thoughts of suicide were reported by 8.9% of respondents, up from 4.9% in the 2020 CHNA.

To compound the increase in mental health struggles, a lack of access to providers was a main concern.

“We know there are not enough of those types of providers nationally available,” Andrea said. "It makes the market really competitive in terms of recruitment and retention of those providers and obviously impacts the communities that are served as a result of the discrepancies."

Andrea added stigma around seeking mental healthcare still exists, despite efforts to combat the trend.

The CHNA also looks at access to affordable housing, childcare and food. While perhaps not immediately related to health, they and other factors form what are called the "social determinants" of health. These areas affect people’s ability to meet basic human needs, Andrea said, and can affect both physical and mental health.

There were, of course, some positive trends in the report.

Among them is the percentage of Ottawa County adults with and without health insurance. Only 7.1% reported not having health insurance, the lowest the percentage has been since the CHNA started in 2011.

“That speaks to the large majority, 93%, of our community being insured, which bodes well for things like access to care,” Andrea said. “Many clinics and providers require insurance to be seen."

The survey also saw lowered reports of obesity, more women aged 40 and up receiving preventative care such as mammograms, and more adults being physically active during leisure time.

The rate of adults reporting obesity declined from 34.5% in 2020 to 28.7% in the 2023 survey. Women 40 and over who'd ever had a mammogram was at 97.6%, while the percentage in the last survey was 78.4% — both the highest recorded since 2011.

Only 10.2% of adults reported doing no physical activity in their leisure time, a drop from 16.4% in 2020 and the lowest mark reported in a CHNA.

Now, agencies will work together to develop a health improvement plan for the community, Andrea said.

“We feel confident that mental health and access to mental health treatment will be one of the things the community works on,” Andrea said.

Subscribe: Receive unlimited digital access to your local news coverage

Agencies involved include Community Mental Health of Ottawa County, Corewell Health Zeeland Hospital, Holland Hospital, the Lakeshore Nonprofit Alliance, Community Spoke, the Ottawa County Department of Public Health, Trinity Health Grand Haven Hospital and the United Way of Ottawa and Allegan Counties (now The Heart of West Michigan United Way).

Andrea said having the organizations work together on the CHNA makes the community stronger.

“We are extremely lucky and fortunate to have the opportunity to partner together as health systems and nonprofits and community health to create the (CHNA) in such a comprehensive and robust way and then have that health improvement plan follow,” Andrea said.

“We really feel fortunate that we have this type of partnership and collective, community-wide interest in learning about and addressing the health concerns of our community.”

— Contact reporter Mitchell Boatman at mboatman@hollandsentinel.com.

This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Report: Mental health 'critical' concern in Ottawa County