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2021 SOTCH

Progress on Community Health Improvement Plans

Brunswick County Health Services conducts the Community Health Assessment (CHA) every three to four years. This assessment is used to understand the overall health of the county and to determine its health priorities. Brunswick County Health Services completed the CHA in 2019 and identified the following health priorities: substance misuse, access to healthcare, and chronic conditions.  Next, community partners and stakeholder came together to develop and implement the Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP).  The plan includes strategies, interventions, partnerships, and measures to address the identified health priorities over the next four years. Brunswick County utilizes a Results Based Accountability™ approach and a Clear Impact Scorecard to track this data.  This progress is then reported on the State of the County Health Report (SOTCH) which is done every year between the CHA. 

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to cause challenges in Brunswick County. Most of the health services staff duties were reassigned to help with the COVID-19 call center or the vaccine clinic. Programs addressing the health priorities were either moved online, paused, or discontinued. In the CHIP data may be skewed due to agencies altering their program delivery method, which in turn changed program efficacy and data collection methods.  Despite all these challenges, Brunswick County Health Services continues to strive to improve the health of the county.

Chronic Conditions:                                                                                                                                                                                  Brunswick County chose six programs to target this health priority. The performance measures for each of these programs can be seen in the CHIP above. Brunswick Wellness Coalition, Brunswick County Cooperative Extension, and Brunswick County Health Services were leading these programs. In the CHIP you will be able to see individuals in the diabetes programs had a decrease in their A1C and weight loss changes. Brunswick County Cooperative Extension’s programs, Families Eating Smart and Moving More, Teen Cuisine, SNAP-ED, and 4-H Healthy Habits, showed majority of participants completed the program and had an increase of knowledge on chronic conditions. Brunswick Wellness Coalition programs, Walk with a Doc and Health Hacks, had a reduction in participation due to these valuable in person programs being changed to a virtual format. Many of our citizens continued to stay home to protect themselves.  

Substance Misuse:                                                                                                                                                                                                Coastal Horizons, methadone treatment center and the Christian Recovery Center Inc., Rose House continues to support individuals affected by substance misuse. Since the last SOTCH, Coastal Horizons provides medication lock boxes and naloxone kits to multiple businesses and individuals in Brunswick County. These are important indicators to decrease substance misuse. Brunswick County also chose two treatment centers to show our progress. The Methadone Clinic stayed open during the pandemic; however, they did have to change some of the treatments they were providing. Telehealth counseling was given to their patients instead of in person. They also had to send in an exception request to the state that was approved to give patients take home medications. Brunswick County Cooperative Extension implemented the Health Rocks and Empowering Youth & Families Program (EYFP) programs to teach opioid prevention education to youth. Brunswick County Health Services website continues to update their citizens with resources for substance misuse.                                                                    https://www.brunswickcountync.gov/health/opioideducation/ 

Access to Healthcare:                                                                                                                                                                                          Individuals already struggling with access to healthcare have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic significantly. Many individuals struggled to see healthcare providers due to illness due to COVID-19. However, there has been some positive outlook that has come out of this time. Technology has come a long way during this time. Telehealth has given more opportunities for patients to receive health care. Multiple healthcare facilities are offering telehealth for their patients which is also helping with transportation needs.  Brunswick County municipalities were asked how their citizens were impacted through transportation and data was shared with county leaders. The county leaders continue to evaluate and work on transportation needs for the county.  Transportation resources are on the Brunswick County Government page.  Social media has also been a instrumental in educating the public on healthcare information and transportation resources.  

 

 

Morbidity and Mortality Changes Since Last CHA

According to the NCDHHS COVID-19 Dashboard there have been 309 COVID-19 deaths in Brunswick County since March 2, 2020. COVID-19 continues to affect many of those dealing with substance misuse which is shown in the data below.  

 

 

The NC Opioid and Substance Use Data Dashboard shows overdose deaths have increased from past years in Brunswick County. There were 28 unintentional overdose deaths in 2019 and increased to 49 in 2020. However, our Place Rank has gone from high overdose deaths to ranked middle.  

 

Emerging Health Issues Since Last CHNA

  • COVID-19 remains a barrier 

  • Substance misuse continues to be an ongoing problem in Brunswick County with overdose deaths rising 

  • Mental Health issues are on the rise due to COVID-19 isolations 

  • Brunswick County population continues to grow which is affecting the amount and accessibility of affordable housing and lack of transportation resources 

New/Paused/Discontinued Initiatives Since Last CHA

In 2021, the way services and programs were delivered were altered due to COVID-19. The Learn, Grow, Eat, Go program through Brunswick County Cooperative Extension was paused due to lack of participants during this time. The Rose House a new women’s recovery center had some setbacks on their renovations and staffing due to COVID-19. This delayed the opening date for this facility. They plan to open and start helping patients in the next 2-3 months.  Brunswick County Health Services also planned and implemented a COVID-19 mass vaccination initiative. The county had pop-up clinics in rural areas to make vaccines easily accessible for at risk populations. Brunswick County Health Services administered over 41,000 vaccinations and the number continues to grow. This involved all staff to help with clinic, call center, outreach, and social media initiatives. 

Clear Impact Suite is an easy-to-use, web-based software platform that helps your staff collaborate with external stakeholders and community partners by utilizing the combination of data collection, performance reporting, and program planning.

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