LOS ANGELES — Non-profit population health leader, Heluna Health, has released results from a national research study showing regional differences in access to social safety net services that could affect community response to and recovery from communicable disease outbreaks.
Data was gathered in early 2023 by Heluna Health’s Research and Evaluation team for counties across the United States. The full report can be viewed here, while an abridged version featuring highlights of the full data brief is available here.
Providing ample social safety net services can be a reflection of how well local communities and counties are prepared for infectious disease outbreaks. The COVID-19 pandemic, for example, showed how low-income communities of color without adequate social safety net programs were disproportionately burdened by the economic and health impacts of the outbreak.
One of the key takeaways of the study is that “communicable disease outbreaks can increase the need for social safety net services to mitigate the health impacts of food insecurity, unemployment, lack of health insurance, and inadequate housing.”
Heluna Health will be releasing periodic data briefs addressing issues that are significant to population health. Working with government officials, policy makers, and other leaders, Heluna Health hopes this data drives decisions to help communities become more healthy and resilient.
