WATSONVILLE—Santa Cruz County outpaces most of California’s 58 counties, placing ninth in several quality-of-life and health areas.
That’s according to the annual County Health Rankings report released March 29 by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
According to the report, 13% of County residents report being in poor health, compared to 14% statewide and 12% nationwide.
The County has a 28% obesity rate, two percentage points lower than the state and four lower than the rest of the nation.
Santa Cruz also outpaces the state’s other counties in access to outdoor exercise opportunities, although it has higher rates of excessive drinking and alcohol-related deaths.
Now in its 10th year, this year’s report focuses on civic participation and civic wellbeing, and how the role of civic engagement affects several aspects of health. Residents typically fare better when they are involved and invested in their community, the report shows.
The data found in the county health rankings, therefore, help Pajaro Valley Unified School District form policy decisions by identifying where improvements can be made.
“Meaningful change will only occur when we are actually listening to the voices of those we impact,” PVUSD Superintendent Michelle Rodriguez said.
The report was discussed at PVUSD’s Family Engagement and Wellness Center at E.A. Hall Middle School on March 29. Along with Rodriguez, Pajaro Valley Prevention and Student Assistance CEO Jasmine Najera also spoke about the report, as did Santa Cruz County Health Services Agency Director Monica Morales.
Morales said that when she was growing up in Watsonville she saw high teen pregnancy rates, low graduation rates and low numbers of people who had health insurance.
Much of that has changed, she said, but an imbalance still exists in several key areas, she said.
This includes a lack of access to health care and behavioral health services, particularly among low-income and indigenous communities.
That is changing somewhat, Najera says, with more people requesting behavioral health services as the stigma for doing so fades away.
But the needs for such services are growing—compounded by ongoing trauma from the Covid-19 pandemic, wildfires, violence and flooding—at the same time the ranks of people providing them are fading.
“The issue is that people are trying to access mental health care for children, themselves and their families, but we just don’t have enough capacity,” she said. “We don’t have enough clinicians to provide those crucial services to the youth and their families that need it.”
To see the full report, visit countyhealthrankings.org/explore-health-rankings.
