The Tallahassee Memorial Health Care’s Health Needs Assessment released new data showing that the mortality rate due to heart disease in Wakulla County is 46% higher than Florida’s average rate.
Every three years the hospital conducts what it calls a needs assessment. Over 70 people participated to identify the top medical needs in the service area.
Heart Disease is the leading cause of death in Leon, Wakulla and Gadsden Counties.
The five biggest health issues reported include hypertension, obesity, high cholesterol mental health problems like depression and diabetes.
Afaf Qasem, the Director of health promotions at TMH, discussed the meaning of these findings.
"It’s important that we create programing that’s going to address that preventive approach, lifestyle, exercise, nutrition understanding what you put into your body but most importantly what are the barriers that you have going on that’s not allowing you to have access to those health services and that’s what we're aiming to address," says Afaf Qasem.
As TMH looks to improve health in our communities, the top five priorities identified were access to Health Services, Mental Health & Substance Abuse, Clinical Preventive Health Services, Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity and Maternal, Infant, and Child Health.
