Dear Reader:

On behalf of the Santa Barbara County Public Health Department, we are pleased to present the Community Health Status Report – 1999. It is a focused look at the health of county residents and provides insightful comparisons of our health status to the health of residents of other counties and the state.

The information contained in this report is enlightening, interesting, and practical. The data presented will help us better understand the health trends that are of importance to all of us. This report can be used by community organizations, elected officials, and health care providers to guide them as they make decisions and allocate resources.

The Public Health Department is proud to provide this comprehensive health status report. It is a key step moving us closer to our vision – "Healthier communities through leadership, partnership, and science."

Roger E. Heroux, MPA, Department Director
Elliot Schulman, MD, MPH Health Officer

Acknowledgments

A special thanks go to the Santa Barbara County Health Status Report 1999 Committee:

Elliot Schulman, MD, MPH, Health Officer
Roger Heroux, MPA, Department Director
Jayne Brechwald, MPH, Director of Assessment and Health Promotion
Michele Mickiewicz, MPH, Quality Improvement Coordinator
Natlee Hapeman, MPH, Biostatistician
Fran Malinoff, MD, Deputy Medical Director
Frank Alvarez, MD, MPH, Deputy Health Officer
and many program managers who supplied program data

Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors
1st District - Naomi Schwartz
2nd District - Susan Rose
3rd District - Gail Marshall
4th District - Joni Gray 5th District - Tom Urbanske

Introduction to the Community Health Status Report

Santa Barbara County Public Health Department is proud to present the first publication of the Santa Barbara County Health Status Report 1999. Monitoring the health status of the community is one of the core functions of public health. The creation of this report was undertaken to address this most important core function for the benefit of all those who live in the communities of Santa Barbara County.

This report contains information that can be used by health care providers, policy-makers, educators and other community members. It may be used as a tool and a reference document for making decisions about policy, program development, resource allocation, grant applications, and to help us better understand the health trends of importance to all county residents.

The report contains charts on many different health indicators including leading causes of death, communicable and chronic diseases, the health care delivery system, environmental health, and maternal and child health. The charts show us data in different ways. Some highlight trends over time and others focus on comparing Santa Barbara County to other counties in California, the state in general and to national goals set for the nation in Healthy People 2000.

Santa Barbara County government selected ten counties as "benchmark counties". These benchmark counties were chosen to help county departments with vastly different missions get a rough measure of how they compare with other counties in the state. The ten counties chosen had the following characteristics in common:

• A total population of more than 200,000, but less than 600,000
• All are suburban to rural environments
• None contain a large metropolitan city
• Seven are coastal or Bay area counties
• Many are known for their scenic beauty and environmental focus
• All but one exceed the statewide average (22%) of population which receives municipal services directly from the county rather than from incorporated cities

By comparing ourselves to these benchmark counties, we challenge ourselves to look at any differences that occur and ask ourselves why. In some cases factors beyond our control may be at work. In other cases, we may find the comparisons lead us to look at ways to make improvements that will result in an even higher level of health for our communities.