Community Input Survey

If you Live in Cuyahoga County - We Want to Hear from You!

The Cuyahoga County Board of Health and the Cleveland Department of Public Health are working together to improve our community’s health and well-being. Community members, like you, told us what issues or health concerns should be at the top of the list. Now, we want you to tell us how you think we should address these issues or concerns.

Below you will find the vision for Cuyahoga County, along with the list of the top issues or concerns. Following that list, we would like you to choose one, or more of the priorities on the list (it’s up to you), and let us know what you think we should do about it and who should be involved.

The survey should only take about 10 minutes.

If you have any questions, please contact Nichelle Shaw at nshaw@ccbh.net

Cleveland/Cuyahoga County Vision and Priorities

Vision: Cleveland and Cuyahoga County are communities that provide everyone with the opportunities to achieve optimal health and well-being.

Priorities:

Behavioral Health and Health Care Access – Includes both mental health and substance abuse/overdose prevention. For example, think about what would make it easier for people to get mental health and substance abuse services, or how mental health and substance abuse providers can work together with physical health providers to improve overall well-being.

In Cuyahoga County, vulnerable populations, including those experiencing homelessness, immigrants and refugees, LGBTQ+ and people of color, face a 40% gap in receiving medical care for combined physical and mental health needs. This is due to a lack of clinics that offer 'all-in-one' behavioral and primary healthcare, making services unaffordable and difficult to navigate. This leads to a reliance on emergency rooms for routine care, especially in neighborhoods with limited public transit.

Housing and Community Conditions – This can include how to get affordable housing, but it can go beyond housing. It can also include things like lead in homes and air pollution.

Housing and community conditions differ significantly across Cuyahoga County. Households in our under-resourced communities of color in the urban core, face a crisis where 1 in 10 homes lack a vehicle and lead poisoning rates are the highest in our state. Due to decades of neglected community investments and rising rents, residents were left with aging, unaffordable housing and poor transit options.

Safety/Injury/Violence – This includes topics related to safety, injury and violence (for example, firearms and domestic violence).

Black residents in Cuyahoga County are dying from firearm injuries at five times the rate of white residents. The County's total injury death rate climbed from 92.8 to 111 deaths per 100,000 between 2014--2022. This spike is driven by the long-term neglect of urban neighborhoods resulting in a lack of safe public spaces and community support programs, leaving families especially children, living in constant fear of violence.

Maternal, Infant and Child Health – This can include issues around preventing infant or child deaths, and how to get prenatal care for pregnant mothers.

Historical laws and community neglect have created deep poverty and limited access to quality medical services in Cuyahoga County’s urban core, resulting in disparities in maternal and infant health across the County. Black families in the County are over 3.5 times more likely to experience the death of an infant than white families. Poor maternal and infant health outcomes can result in compromised child development and school readiness from prematurity and low birthweight, long-term health complications, increased healthcare costs, and declining community well-being, showing that structural barriers to maternal and infant health weakens the foundation for healthy families and community prosperity.

Chronic Disease – This includes conditions such as high blood pressure, heart disease, and diabetes. It is the leading cause of death and things like tobacco prevention, stress reduction, healthy eating, and being physically healthy, can help prevent or manage these conditions.

Residents across Cuyahoga County, particularly those in under-resourced communities of color, face a rising burden of chronic diseases like asthma and high blood pressure. In Cleveland, 40.2% of adults had high blood pressure and the rate for Black residents was 60.7%. These rising rates are due to poverty, environmental hazards, and a lack of access to healthy food and safe places to exercise. These conditions lead to higher rates of premature death and disability that prevent families from maintaining steady employment and health.