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Attachment 5: B OMB OH Joint 04/01/04 FINAL DRAFT Orange County rates for infant deaths, low birth weight, and neonatal mortality are all either right at the NC 2010 objectives or are slightly better than those desired levels. 90% of Orange County women who were pregnant started prenatal care in the first trimester, which meets the 2010 obj ective. Unfortunately, this is also an area where there continue to be disparities between whites and African- Americans. • Low crime rates. Residents often stated during focus groups that they found Orange County to be a safe, secure place to live. Over a ten -year period, the average was 6,092 index crimes per year, the vast majority of which were larcenies. The crime rate both on the state and local level has dropped over the past ten years, and the rate of crime in Orange County remains lower than the state average. "In our community, police and courts are tremendously talented and caring and work very hard to collaborate " • High level of physical activity. Based on data from the 2002 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey, 51.4% of Orange County adults participate in the recommended amount of physical activity. The current recommendation is for adults to perform at least 30 minutes of moderate physical activity on 5 or more days of the week. The NC 2010 Goal is only 20 %, so we are far ahead on this measure Causes for Concern. While the areas of celebration are evidence that Orange County lives up to its reputation of being an excellent place to live and raise a family, secondary data reveals some areas of concern and residents have identified other areas important to them that need serious attention to improve our collective living situation. This summary will highlight ten areas of concern starting with six issues that were chosen by the community for focus and another four health issues that are strongly substantiated by recent statistics. • Barriers to receiving health care services, primarily the cost of healthcare, the lack of insurance, and the geographic availability of services. This was the top community priority. Despite the affluence of Orange County with a median family income of $59,874, nearly 15% of Orange County residents are without health insurance; and more than 14% were living below the federal poverty level. Barriers to health care services go beyond affordability, although affordability of health care was the number one concern that arose in the community assessment. Other barriers include the disparity in treatments provided to minority residents even when they access health care, and the concentration of services in the southern part of the county was also noted as a barrier to northern residents, especially those with lower incomes and without adequate transportation.