Nearly every Texas adult says something important for good health is missing in their community. New findings from Episcopal Health Foundation’s Texas Health Tracking Poll show that 93% of Texans report a shortage of at least one resource that helps people get and stay healthy.
Those resources go well beyond medical care. The poll asked Texans about affordable healthy food, good jobs, quality child care, safe places to exercise, reliable transportation, health care providers, and other resources that can affect health.
The findings are featured on EHF’s new interactive Texas Health Tracking Poll website, which brings together eight years of statewide polling and allows users to explore how barriers differ across communities and populations.
Rural Texans report greater barriers
The latest poll shows that where Texans live makes a difference. Rural residents report greater shortages than urban residents across every community resource measured.
Transportation is one of the clearest examples. The poll shows 77% of rural Texans say their community lacks adequate public transportation, compared with 53% of urban Texans.
That difference can have a direct impact on health. Without reliable transportation, getting to a medical appointment, picking up prescriptions, or reaching a grocery store with affordable healthy food can become much harder.
Other community resources can create similar challenges. Limited access to healthy food can make preventing or managing chronic conditions more difficult. A lack of safe places to exercise can reduce opportunities for physical activity. And shortages of nearby health care providers can make it harder to get preventive care before health problems become more serious.
The poll shows how barriers outside the doctor’s office can affect whether Texans have a fair opportunity to be healthy.
Putting the poll data to work
The new Texas Health Tracking Poll website gives community organizations, researchers, policymakers, and others a way to explore these findings in greater detail.
Users can look at differences between rural and urban Texans, examine results across income levels and other population groups, and explore how access to community resources connects with other barriers to health.
The website also allows users to select findings, charts, and statistics to create customized one-page information sheets that can be downloaded and shared.
For EHF and its partners, the data provides another way to understand what Texans say is missing in their communities and where efforts to remove barriers could make a difference.