The Value of Investing in Your Community’s Health: Why it is Important By Sandra Melstad, MPH, Public Health Consultant, South Dakota Department of Health Health and wellness can be influenced at the local level and community leaders play a vital role in addressing the health of their community. The community is a major piece of a broad public health system which seeks to assure local public health in partnership with sectors in the community, including health care systems, business, the media, academia, and government health infrastructure. By definition, public health is the “effort, science, art, and approach used by all sectors of society to assure, maintain, protect, promote, and improve the health of the people.”1 Understanding the factors that equate public health in a community can help leaders recognize the value of investing in their community’s health and why it is important. Health Costs to the Community – The Facts Each year more than 1.5 million people in the U.S. die from largely preventable chronic diseases such as heart disease, cancer, and diabetes; each a major cause of
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illness.2 In South Dakota (SD) heart disease and cancer continue to be the leading causes of death.3 These diseases account for more than 75 percent of U.S. healthcare spending.4 By doing nothing to prevent these diseases, researchers estimate the annual cost could balloon to $4.2 trillion by 2023.5 The prevalence of chronic disease also burdens SD with preventable health care costs. According to the Milken Institute, it is projected that by 2023 SD will suffer $8.4 billion in lost productivity attributable to chronic diseases.6 If the prevalence of obesity, a risk factor for developing chronic disease, continues to rise in SD, health care spending attributable to obesity may cost the state $1,729 per adult by 2018.7 Factors that Contribute to Community Health Status A larger percentage of chronic diseases are correlated to four modifiable and costly individual health risk behaviors—lack of physical activity, poor nutrition, tobacco use/exposure, and excessive alcohol consumption.
SOUTH DAKOTA MUNICIPALITIES
