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The health of
Hall County residents lags slightly behind the
profile of others in the south. About 55% of Hall adults say their
health is excellent or very good, compared to 60% across the South.
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Those who say
they rely on the hospital emergency department for routine primary care
is declining. In 2003, 12% said they would use the ER if they got sick.
In the current study, only 6% said they would likely use the ER for a
routine illness.
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While 95% of
Hall adults believe it is important to have health insurance, only 81%
have coverage of some sort. Among the 19% without coverage, 38% are
employed, and 85% earn less than $50,000 per year. 59% of the insured
have children under 18 living in the home.
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The rate of
uninsured found in 2007 — 19% - is substantially higher than in 2003
when the rate of uninsured was 11%. The largest increase in the
uninsured has occurred among younger, low-income, less educated adults.
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Among those
working uninsured, 61% work for employers who do not offer insurance
benefits. 58% of the working uninsured believes $100 or less is a
reasonable price to pay for health insurance for their families.
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43% of those
without health insurance delayed getting medical care in the past year
because they could not afford it. 31% delayed dental care for the same
reason.
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58% of Hall
County adults are overweight or obese. While troublesome, this finding
is consistent with national data on adults and weight.
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Tobacco use
continues to decline, especially among younger adults. Overall, 21% of
Hall adults reporting cigarettes, compared to almost one-third in 1998.
Safety
& Security
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Only 2% of respondents reported experiencing an act of
violence in the past year. This is a lower percent than the 2003
study when 5% reported experiencing violence of some sort.
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The home is still the place where most violent acts occur.
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Among those living in Gainesville, 14% say they are aware of gang
activities in their neighborhoods. 27% of parents in Gainesville say
they worry about their children’s
safety when they go out to play.
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Hall County schools appear successful
addressing problems with bullying. Ten percent of parents reported
their child has been bullied in the past year, compared with 28% in
2003.
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83% of
parents say they do not worry about their children using tobacco,
drugs or alcohol. This level of confidence is lower among parents of
middle schoolers, however, the years when many children start to
experiment with these things.
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53% of
parents overall, and 85% of high school and middle school parents
say they have talked to their children about what they expect in the
area of sexual behavior.
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Trust of police is increasing among Black and Latino
adults. In 2003 30% of Latinos and 18% of Blacks said they had
complete confidence in police. For 2007 those trust ratings rose to
55% among Latinos and 44% among Blacks.
Connections to Community
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79% rate the quality of life in Hall County as excellent or
good
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The percentage of adults who say they volunteer in the community is
declining, down to 24% now from 30% four years ago.
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43% of Hall County adults said they donated at least $100 to a
community organization in the past year.
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45% of Hall adults attend some type of church or faith organization
meeting weekly.
Most Hall County adults feel they have adequate transportation. Even
91% of those over age 65 feel they have adequate transportation to
get to where they need to go. Some low income and Latino residents,
however, and 49% of those in poor health, report difficulties with
transportation
Confidence in the Future
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28% of
parents feel area schools do an excellent job preparing children for
the future. Ratings are highest among low income and Latino parents,
but lower among White and Black respondents.
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Among
Hall County workers, 68% are confident their jobs are secure, at
least for the year ahead.
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Middle-age workers — those ages 55 to 64 — are less confident about
their jobs and futures than other workers. This group sees less
opportunity for advancement in their work.
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Most
workers, 92%, say they are happy in their jobs.
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But 4%
of adults say they are so down in the dumps that nothing can cheer
them up most of the time. That’s
as many as 5,000 chronically depressed people in the county.
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About
one-third of workers overall would change jobs for a better health
insurance plan. Among those currently working without insurance,
however, 72% would change jobs for insurance.
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For
those without health insurance, 17% are afraid and nervous about the
future most of the time. That compares to 7% of the county overall
that feels this way.
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Evaluations of air quality are declining. Only 20% of Hall adults
believe the air is very clean. This is down from 38% who felt the
air was very clean in 1998.
>>Next:
Overview of Hall County
from 2007 Census |
INSIDE
THE
HEALTHY HALL
HIGHLIGHT REPORT: |
