In an effort to accurately assess the health and wellness needs of Pottawatomie County, Health Director Leslie Campbell enlisted the help of Project Coordinator for the Riley County Senior Service Center Debbie Nuss and Konza United Way to survey local residents on a variety of quality-of-life issues. The findings were presented to the Pottawatomie County Commissioners during their weekly meeting on Monday, April 20.“This assessment was just completed about a month ago,” said Nuss. “It was the result of a year-long project where we asked the residents of Pottawatomie County to take a survey and give us their input regarding what they thought the community’s needs and concerns were in eleven areas of concern related to quality of life.”
Areas addressed included mental health, transportation, child care and personal finances. Of these topics, Nuss said mental health came through relatively high in Pottawatomie County, with more than 20 percent of residents in the county suffering from some sort of mental health issue.
“It gives them another piece of information about what they need to address in terms of where they dedicate public tax dollars going forward,” she said.
Konza United Way is also hosting a series of “Community Conversations” throughout the region to help further the project by getting the public’s input on how to take care of some of these issues.
Also in the way of health, Pottawatomie County has been randomly selected to take part in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHAMES) to provide statistics on a number of health and wellness topics, such as obesity, oral health and chronic illness. The organization will begin collecting data in August by studying approximately 480 local residents, and will provide participants with a full physical and dental examination.
Other business on the commissioners’ agenda included discussion on the need for a new roof at the Wamego Senior Citizens’ Center, and updates on the Excel Road maintenance project, which now has a bid date of June 1 for the sanitary sewer improvements.
Public Works also reported that the annual dust control program will begin on gravel roads throughout the county on May 1. The program allows home owners to purchase 500 feet of dust control material and have it applied by the county for $175.
