Social Assessment: Cuyahoga County

Cuyahoga County
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Cuyahoga County
The community health needs assessment (CHNA) refers to a territorial health evaluation that enumerates key health needs and issues through methodical, extensive data gathering and analysis. This CHNA will entail a systematic investigation of the health status indicators for Cuyahoga County to identify critical key health assets and problems. The ultimate goal of the CHNA is to guide health policymakers in developing strategies to address identified community health needs and issues, thereby reducing health inequity in the county. Cuyahoga County is situated in the northern region of Ohio and south of Lake Erie. It was founded in 1810 by the Ohio government and took its name from the Native American word “Cuyahoga,” which means “crooked river” (Ohio History Central, 2018). Cuyahoga County is Ohio’s most populous county and the second-largest county in Ohio by area. The county seat is in Cleveland, which is one of the most populous urban areas in America.
Social Assessment
Economy
The economy of Cuyahoga County was, for the most part, dominated by the manufacturing industry. However, the industrial restructuring of steel and railroad industries of the 60s to 90s cost the county economically, although the growth of other industries has shifted the county’s economy. For instance, the construction of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum in Cleveland and other major cultural institutions, over and above, the three Major League professional sports franchises continue to boost the county’s tourism economy (Ohio History Central, 2018). Other industries that have made up for the decline in manufacturing industries include higher education, insurance, and technology (Exner, 2020). Healthcare is one of the largest earners in the county and the biggest sector of the local economy.
Industry
Approximately 45 percent of residents in Cuyahoga County earn their living by working in the service industries, particularly the health care, financial services, biomedical, and communications industries. Almost another 50 percent of the county’s employment openings are in the manufacturing and sales industries. A significant proportion of Cuyahoga County’s residents also work in the coal, shipping, steel, and iron core sectors spread across the Great Lakes (Ohio History Central, 2018). The tourism sector, particularly in Cleveland, is another industry that provides placement opportunities for a large number of county dwellers.
Vibrancy
Cuyahoga County has a vibrant arts and culture scene to support inclusive cultural experiences that are critical to the county’s residents’ health and vitality. The county continues to invest millions of dollars every year in the arts and culture industry to strengthen the community and challenge the complex web of inequities. However, structural racism continues to be the biggest barrier to interaction. Racial and economic discrimination resulting from historical policies like redlining continue to create divisions among community members and result in poorer health outcomes for minority groups (Christ & Dealer, 2019).
Public Transportation
Cuyahoga County has a robust public transportation system that includes public bus services, rapid transit train services, and taxi cabs. The broad public transportation options also include rideshare services, bike share, and scooter share (Cleveland State University, 2021). Cleveland’s Regional Transit Authority, the public transit agency for Cleveland, owns and operates the RTA Rapid Transit rail System as well as flyer, loop, and paratransit buses. Cleveland’s RTA, one of the best public transit systems in North America, operates free trolleybuses on weekdays, nights, and weekends. Commuters from Tower City Center can also reach Cleveland Hopkins International Airport every 15 minutes using the RTA rail line.
Public Spaces, Parks, and Recreation
Cuyahoga County encompasses 460 square miles, where parks and open spaces account for 15% of the total land area. 10% of land in the land is considered protected open space, of which public parks constitute the biggest percentage. The county benefits from a number of park systems administered at the national, state, county, and local levels, most of which are located near the lakeshore. Some of the public spaces, parks, and recreation venues in Cuyahoga County include the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, the Towpath Trail, the Natatorium, Quirk Cultural Center, and Brookledge Golf Club, among others.
Human Characteristics
The most recent census in 2020 shows that the county has a population of 1,264,817 (a small decline from the 2010 population of 1,280,122), where 52.3% are female, and the rest are male (Figure 1). Regarding race or ethnicity, 63.5% of residents are White, 30.5% African American, 6.3% Latino, 3.4% Asian, 0.3% American Indians and Alaska Natives, while 2.3% of the population consists of two or more races (Figure 1). Forty-two percent of residents are married, while the rest identify as single or cohabiting. Of the 549,471 households, 48% classify as married households, with an even distribution between male and female households (Data USA, 2022). A majority of homes have one child. The median age of Cuyahoga County is 40.4 years (Figure 1), while the median household income is $52,423 (Figure 2). The unemployment rate is 3.9%, while 16.1% of the county’s population lives in poverty, which is about 1.3 times the rate nationally and 25% percent higher than the rate in Ohio (Figure 2).
Figure 1. Population census by age range, and race & ethnicity (Census Reporter, 2021).
Figure 2. Population census by income and poverty (Census Reporter, 2021).
In terms of educational attainment, 90.2% have a high school diploma or higher, and 33.6% have a bachelor’s degree or higher. There are 617,202 housing units in the county (a majority of which are single units and most of the other housing units as multi-units) with an 89% occupancy rate.
Fifty-eight percent of residents are homeowners, while the rest are renters. In terms of religion, 29.6% are Catholics, 8.3% are Evangelical Protestants, 4.6% are Baptist, 2.4% are Judaism, and the rest belong to different Christian faiths, where only 0.3% affiliate with Islam. While most residents identify as Independent, 66.4% of the county’s residents voted Democrat in the 2016 election, 32.3% voted Republican, and the remaining voted Independent (Best Places, 2016).
Health Indicators
The life expectancy in Cuyahoga County is 80.4 for females and 75.1 for males, where all-cause mortality is 705.7 for the former and 1023.3 for the latter per 100,000 population. The biggest health issues are cardiovascular disease, childhood asthma, diabetes, mental health/suicide, substance use disorders, lead poisoning, infant mortality, obesity, and tobacco use. A significant morbidity and mortality risk factor, tobacco use is a common health behavior, with 14.2% of Cuyahoga County adults reporting to be current smokers, although 23.8% classify under forme...