By Victoria Stone-Meadows
THE latest results from the VicHealth Indicators Survey show that the City of Casey has a health and wellbeing score of 77.1 out of a possible 100.
The survey takes into consideration a number of health and wellbeing indicators and is conducted every four years to provide a snapshot of a population’s health.
The survey looked at factors that impact an individual’s health and wellbeing such as overall life satisfaction, perceptions of safety and neighbourhood connectedness, physical activity levels, consumption of fruit, vegetables, water and alcohol, and so on.
The survey also factored-in a range of socio-demographic data to enable a comprehensive health equity analysis.
The data from the 2015 VicHealth survey shows that Casey meets the average health and wellbeing score of 77.3.
However, there were some notable findings from the survey that showed Casey has areas for improvement when it comes to resident’s trust, safety and alcohol use. Some of these were:
– 48.1 per cent of Casey residents said they felt safe walking alone in their local area after dark, which is less than the Victorian estimate of 55.1 per cent;
– 64.8 per cent of Casey residents said that people in their neighbourhood can be trusted, the average across the state is 71.9 per cent;
– 21.3 per cent of Casey residents were found to be at risk of short-term harm from alcohol abuse in any given month.
Victorian Minister for Health, Jill Hennessy, said the data from the survey will allow governments at all levels to provide targeted and localised health services.
“This information will give us, and local councils, the information we need to see where things are improving, and where we need to work harder,” she said.
