The impact of the Affordable Care Act, climbing obesity rates and social capital are some of the key topics from the 2015 Southeastern Pennsylvania Household Health Survey conducted by PHMC’s Community Health Data Base (CHDB).
Access to care:
While Americans can access health insurance through the ACA, the percentage increase of those with insurance since 2006 has been minimal across the region. Montgomery County had the highest percentage of those with insurance in 2015 at 96.3%, only a 0.5% increase from 2006, followed by Bucks County with 95.4% (+1.1%), Chester County with 94.5% (-1.3%), Delaware County with 94.3% (+0.3%), and last was Philadelphia County with 89.9% (with the largest increase of 1.9%) for adults 18-64.
Obesity:
The number of adults who are obese in all five counties increased marginally since 2012. Philadelphia County had the highest percentage of obese adults at 33.3%, followed by Delaware County at 31.2%, Bucks County at 28.2%, Montgomery County at 27.4%, and Chester County at 22.5%.
Social capital:
Social capital includes topics such as: how much trust you have in your neighbors, feeling of belongingness to your neighborhood, would you help/have you helped your neighbors, number of organizations you are involved in, access to safe outdoor space, and more were included to measure social capital rankings for the region. Social capital results are based on a 10-point score derived from five questions. Chester County reported the highest levels of social capital at 20.8%, followed by Montgomery County (16.1%), Bucks County (15.7%), Delaware County (12.9%), and Philadelphia County (8.6%).
Read the full press release and check out this infographic to learn more. For information about the CHDB, contact Francine Axler, CHDB Executive Director, at francine@phmc.org or 215-985-2521.
