DATA INSIGHT

To reduce the risk for chronic diseases and improve health, we are working together in Garrett County to help people get the recommended amounts of healthy foods like vegetables, fruits, and whole grains with the aim of getting essential nutrients like calcium and potassium.

Many strategies and interventions to help people choose healthy foods are underway and can help reduce the risk of chronic diseases and improve their overall health. People who eat too many foods that are high in saturated fat and added sugars are at an increased risk for obesity, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and other health issues.

Some people don’t have the information they need to choose healthy foods. Other people don’t have access to healthy foods or can’t afford to buy enough food. The USDA defines food insecurity as a lack of consistent access to enough food for every person in a household to live an active, healthy life. Hunger is the feeling someone has when they don’t have enough food.

Our community checked the box broadly titled nutrition enough times that it landed as the second issue of concern. As we explore the issue, keep in mind the complexities presented and that we don’t know from our broad health assessment data what specifically it is about nutrition that concerns people the most. Is it that they are hungry, food insecure, struggling with obesity, diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, or want to learn new recipes?

Sources:

1. U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020-2025. 9th Edition. December 2020. Available at DietaryGuidelines.gov.

2. https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/food-nutrition-assistance/food-security-in-the-u-s/

3. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. Healthy People 2030: Social determinants of health.

Telling a story about our data is vital to understanding the impact of programs, systems, and improvement efforts in our community. Here’s the baseline data we have from our current Community Health Assessment regarding mental health. These datapoints are a collection of surveys and research, and provide information for our community to comprehensively create strategies. These datapoints are not comparative outside of the individual survey instruments.

Below you’ll find our own primary data sets and the secondary sources that help us know more about nutrition and food security in Garrett County. We have real-time data sets, so anyone in the community can see how a given program or intervention is performing and join in the effort on mygarrettcounty.com. Contact information is available for leadership in the area of nutrition, as well as a list of coalitions open to the public that address various issues related to nutrition and food security. Current community resources and relevant areas of interest are also included.

Here’s the baseline data we have from our current Community Health Assessment regarding nutrition and food security. These data points are a collection of surveys and research to provide information for our community to comprehensively create strategies. These data points are not comparative outside of the individual survey instruments.

Assessment Data

A interative version of this graph, with additional data, is available at: https://charp.garrettcountyapps.com/

A interative version of this graph, with additional data, is available at: https://charp.garrettcountyapps.com/

Focus groups were held in a guided conversation format about the top five issues people identified as their main concerns in our latest community prioritization survey. Below is the analysis of the focus group discussions conducted in June of 2022. To read the full analysis visit https://mygarrettcounty.com/cha2024/, and select the assessment narrative on page 10.

Focus Group Analysis

Nutrition as a priority was ranked second. Three years ago, it was ranked 14th – that’s a 207% increase reported in consumer surveys. Focus group discussions centered around food insecurities and a lack of adequate nutrition in common food choices. Certain shortages at grocery stores during 2020 had a lasting impact on many. People were genuinely concerned about the future as it relates to food access. Senior citizens and younger school-aged children were frequently referenced as examples of groups impacted. These may be two of the most vulnerable demographics for hunger, and data may be difficult to obtain to delve deeper into this issue. Other themes discussed were challenges with our short growing season and needing to figure out what to do with fresh produce when there’s an abundance. Barriers of expense and expertise to canning, freezing, and storing food were also discussed. Many felt they didn’t have the time to eat healthy meals or prepare food. Simple recipes the whole family would enjoy was a common request in the focus groups. Meal planning and the idea of food as medicine were proposed as possible solutions to enhancing nutrition to save time. Another community member had the idea of hosting a “long table” where community members bring dishes and everyone tries something new and takes home the recipe. Farmer’s co-ops and fresh markets, when in season, are accessible to some, but there are still gaps in remote communities, so expanding those programs could be helpful.

MyGarrettCounty.com Action Group Data (Real-Time Data)

Food Council
https://mygarrettcounty.com/groups/social-determinants-of-health/raw-data/

 

Ad Hoc Committee on Diabetes
https://mygarrettcounty.com/groups/ad-hoc-committee-on-diabetes/raw-data/

 

Early Care Programs System of Care
https://mygarrettcounty.com/groups/early-care-programs-system-of-care/raw-data/

 

Improving Healthy Birth Weights
https://mygarrettcounty.com/groups/improving-health-birth-weights/raw-data/

 

Go! Garrett County
https://mygarrettcounty.com/groups/go-gc/raw-data/

 

Learning Beyond the Classroom
https://mygarrettcounty.com/groups/learning-beyond-the-classroom/raw-data/

 

Partners After School @ Oakland
https://mygarrettcounty.com/groups/partners-after-school-oakland/raw-data/

 

WIC Nutrition Increases Fruit and Vegetable Consumption
https://mygarrettcounty.com/groups/wic-nutrition-increases-fruit-and-vegetable-consumption-1738748979/raw-data/

 

Supplemental Primary Data

Garrett County Pandemic Health Assessment
https://mygarrettcounty.com/cha2024/

When the United States went into lockdown, various agencies supported vulnerable populations and food insecurity needs. The Office of Population Health, Innovation, & Informatics helped to manage interagency coordination through the Health Planning Council via a baseline survey. The intent was to utilize the data to begin coordinating local systems.

What’s unique about this survey is that within an hour of launching the survey we had over 1000 responses. This was a time when our community faced much uncertainty. We needed data specifically about food resources to set up collection sites. During this time, the survey method worked well for public health to have the data to take action.

Q6 What is your greatest concern at this moment?

Well-Being Dataset: Go! Garrett County
https://mygarrettcounty.com/cha2024/ + Additional Data Collected

Originally funded by Maryland’s Community Health Resource Commission, Go! Garrett County.com is an innovative way to provide engagement and education while promoting local resources, and acting as the only data the county has collected about belonging. The longitudinal surveying on the website creates a knowledge base we are using to tailor specific programs to prevent and manage chronic diseases in Garrett County. In evaluation, only 7.35% of participants did not report any improvement in their overall well-being as a result of participation in this initial community-wide program. These datasets provide additional supporting evidence that non-medical interventions can improve well-being. Additional datasets from this program, including statistically significant databases of geospatial burden of chronic diseases and BMI distribution are also available for further evaluation, if funding allows.

 

Garrett County Public Schools Data

View on Maryland Public Schools’ Website: https://bit.ly/4437ZBx

 

Primary Fiscal Year 2022 Data From the Garrett County Health Department’s Health Education & Outreach Unit:

26 Diet Consults Completed

792 Elementary / Middle School Students Completed Healthy Eating Challenges w/ Play Hard Live Clean

178 Healthy Eating Challenges Completed by High School Students

37% of Adults Reported Improved Knowledge of Healthy Eating as a Result of Education

53% of Youth Reported Improved Knowledge of Healthy Eating as a Result of Education

 

Primary Data from the Garrett County Department of Social Services:

1) Total Count of Participants receiving SNAP in July for each year from 2017-2022:

July 2017 – Unavailable
July 2018 – Unavailable
July 2019 – Unavailable
July 2020 – Unavailable
July 2021 – 2351 CASES
July 2022 – 2172 CASES

2) Total count of participants receiving SNAP:

Jan 2023 – 4640 clients total (2277 CASES/HOUSEHOLDS)
Feb 2023 – 4630 clients total (2295 CASES/HOUSEHOLDS) 

April – September Data:

Unique Cases (Households)
April 2271, May 2245, June 2258, July 2219, August 2211, September 2208
# of Issuances (Individuals)
April 4585, May 4557, June 4586, July 4555, August 4560, September 4545 

3) The total dollar amount awarded in 2022:

$12,618,534.31

4) The average dollar amount participants lost due to the ending of SNAP Covid funds:

Feb 2023 Issuance $1,146,434.33/2295 CASES = $499.54 per CASE/month of 2/23
Mar 2023 Issuance – Unknown at this time

5) How DSS staff is helping families prepare for the reduction in benefits:

– GCDSS Website and Facebook pages
– Staff at monthly outreach locations – libraries, senior centers
– Staff invited by CAC to all Senior apartment buildings in March for question/answer session
– Flyers sent to community partners
– Available in person, by phone/email to answer questions and explain personal benefit changes

6) What community supports/coordination would help your clients the most as it relates to food security

We need a place where GC citizens can pick up weekly groceries – mostly staples. I had a gentleman come in, he had called the House of Hope and was referred to a food bank. He was told that weekly pickup was not available due to supply. This is where community available supplies would go a long way – especially in support of the aging population on a fixed income.

 

Additional Notes of Importance:

MA Unwinding – Public Health Emergency ends May 11; we have not been able to close any MA cases during this time, except of in 5 instances (move, death, better coverage, etc.)
– In preparation for this, redetermination dates have been extended to the date of their original start date (total of 12 cohorts for each month of the year).
– MDH will return to standard redetermination mailings for the first of 12 cohorts in April 2023.
– The first disenrollments for participants of the first cohort who no longer qualify for coverage will occur on May 31st. The first day without Medicaid coverage for these beneficiaries will be June 1, 2023.
– The unwinding process will continue over12 months with the remaining cohorts. This is done to spread out the number of coverage end dates over that time.
– This plan is posted on the MDH website: https://health.maryland.gov/mmcp/Pages/2023-MMAC-Meeting-Materials.asp

A substantial amount of secondary data on nutrition and food insecurity is available in the 2022-2024 Garrett County & Surrounding Region Community Health Assessment (https://mygarrettcounty.com/cha2024/) and accompanying supplemental data reports. Highlights from this combined document are included below:

SNAP Benefits

SNAP Authorized Stores

Fast Food Restaurants

Food Deserts

Grocery Stores