SVMC Community Health Needs Assessment 2021 - Catalog - Page 51
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As highlighted below, disparities related to anxiety are like those seen with depression.
Disparities in anxiety identified by SVMC’s community health survey:
35% of students reported major challenges with anxiety.
As with depression, 23% of Black or African American respondents indicated major challenges with
anxiety.
In addition to challenges with anxiety and depression, some survey respondents indicated additional
struggles with other mental health conditions. Similar to patterns seen for depression and anxiety,
challenges with mental health conditions were reported more frequently amongst younger
respondents.
Survey Responses: Challenges with Another Mental Health
Condition
n=1,482
35%
30%
25%
20%
A major challenge
15%
Somewhat of a challenge
10%
A small challenge
5%
0%
13-34 years
35-64 years
65+ years
Whether depression, anxiety, or other mental health condition, struggles with psychological wellbeing
can be measured by quantifying the number of mentally unhealthy days experienced by individuals
within a particular geography. This measure for SVMC’s service area is shown below.
Mentally Unhealthy Days61
County
Bennington County
Windham County
Berkshire County
Washington County
Rensselaer County
Average number of mentally unhealthy days reported
in past 30 days (age-adjusted)
4.7
4.8
5.0
4.6
4.5
State
Vermont 4.2
Massachusetts 4.3
New York 3.6
61
Poor mental health days: a quality of life measure. County Health Rankings & Roadmaps. University of Wisconsin Population
health Institute: School of Medicine and Public Health with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. 2021 County
Health Rankings using data from 2018. https://www.countyhealthrankings.org/
Southwestern Vermont Medical Center
Community Health Needs Assessment 2021