A survey recently showed 46% of Dallas County adults had difficulty accessing healthcare in 2024 due to one or more barriers. One in three people had difficulty getting a healthcare appointment in the past year, and one in four said inconvenient office hours prevented a doctor’s visit last year.
In response, the March 6 session of the Community Health Planning series will discuss access to healthcare in an online meeting from 3-4 p.m. In order to participate, register online in advance. The series aim to address the goals, objectives, strategies and tactics related to access to healthcare in Dallas County.
When the Dallas County Public Health Department conducted its 2024 Community Health Assessment, it discovered that nearly three-fourths of residents feel access to care is either a major or moderate problem in Dallas County.
“There are simply not enough mental health service providers to serve adults and particularly children,” said one community leader in the assessment. “There is a shortage of caretakers for people who need home services.”
Another community leader cited access defects, including “lack of providers accepting Medicaid, accessible locations for service and language barriers, lack of mental health service providers, policy/societal impact on reproductive health for women.”
The assessment revealed:
- 17% of adults in the Polk/Dallas/Warren county region skipped or stretched medications to save costs.
- The percentage of Dallas County adults saying they had difficulty getting a healthcare appointment increased from 18.5% in 2021 to 29.1% in 2024.
- Among Dallas County adults, the percentage reporting that inconvenient hours prevented a healthcare visit increased from 12.3% in 2021 to 25.3% in 2024.
Along with access concerns, the Feb. 27 Community Health Planning session will cover the social determinants of health, and the March 13 session will treat mental health. These online meetings are held from 3-4 p.m.
To review the 2024 Community Health Assessment, visit the Dallas County Public Health Department website. For more information, contact Abigail Coder at abigail.coder@DallasCountyIowa.gov.
