The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA

Abstract #50510

Shanda Diehl, Lyndia Vold, MS, and Kim Marie Thorburn, MD, MPH. Spokane Regional Health District, 1101 West College Avenue, Spokane, WA 99201, 509-324-3605, sdiehl@spokanecounty.org

The poverty assessment is a comprehensive assessment that assesses poverty AND identifies the implications and consequences of living in poverty. The assessment-publication describes the community-owned and developed definition of poverty and the economic, social, and health implications for the Spokane County. The first step of this assessment established a community definition of the costs of basic needs, engaging over 250 community members representing people in poverty, business community, social services, health care providers, economists, and economic development professionals. Focus groups and key informant interviews were conducted exploring and identifying the various impacts of living in poverty or with incomes below the costs of basic needs. Each chapter represents a factor or consequence of poverty. The chapters and the indicators were developed based on community feedback.

The findings of the poverty assessment indicate, for Spokane County specifically, that there is a significant problem with poverty. The consequences of this 13.7% of the population living below the 100% of the federal poverty level in 2000 according to the 2000 census is significant, especially when the costs to basic needs is much higher than this level. Housing, child development, family stability, health, nutrition, transportation, and safety are greatly impacted by poverty. The most important finding of the assessment is that the prevalence and the consequences of poverty should be addressed comprehensively because poverty is just as much an social concern as it is an economic. The implications for public health are great because many of the public health services target people in poverty.

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