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Index: Community Living / Subcategory: Public Sector Performance

Community Concerns

Date posted: 09/29/2004

Chart Directory:

Health District of Northern Larimer County Community Health Survey - 2001

The Larimer County Health Survey 2001 was conducted in January 2002 by the Larimer County Health District, and the survey was prepared by Abacus Custom Research, Inc. The Larimer County Health Survey 2001 had a response rate of 53.3%. This page identifies the major community concerns selected by survey respondents among a list of issues provided in the survey.

How much of a problem are these issues in the particular town, city, or rural area where you CURRENTLY live?

Respondents were given a choice of five numbers:

Responses of 'Don't Know' were not included in these statistics.

This page compares the overall means of responses for each issue. When averaged, each issue's score reveals the degree of concern that the respondents as a whole had for that issue. For example, a mean score of 2.5 would indicate that, overall, respondents felt that the issue was somewhere between a 'Small Problem' and 'Somewhat of a Problem'. Therefore the higher the mean score, the higher the respondents', as a group, degree of concern.

What this chart shows: Community Concerns in Larimer County by Issue (Mean Score)

Community Concerns in Larimer County by Issue (Mean Score)

Data Source: Health District of Northern Larimer County, Community Health Survey, 2001

See data table

What these data tell us:

 By a margin of almost 30%, Population Growth was identified as a significantly higher concern ('Somewhat' and 'Serious' problem) for Larimer County in 2001. The other eight issues shared an average mean of around 2.26, or between a 'Small Problem' and 'Somewhat of a Problem'. Alcohol Abuse, Illegal Drug Use, and Teen Pregnancy all showed significantly higher concern responses than the lower scoring issues.

Although the mean scores of these issues fell below the 'Serious' and 'Very Serious' concerns, 41.1% of all respondents saw Population Growth as a 'Serious' or 'Very Serious' problem. An average of 7.9% of respondents saw the remaining issues as falling within these two levels of concern. See the data table for both average scores and the percentages of respondents who rated issues as 'Serious' or 'Very Serious' problems.

What this chart shows: Top Five Concerns in Larimer County by Age Group

Top Five Concerns in Larimer County by Age Group

Data Source: Health District of Northern Larimer County, Community Health Survey, 2001

See data table

What these data tell us:

 Among the different age groups, Population Growth continued to be the most concerning issue for Larimer County in 2001. The age group of 45 to 59 years showed the greatest degree of concern for their top five issues. In comparison, the youngest age group showed the lowest degree of concern for their top issues. There were significant relationships between 45 to 59 year olds and other age groups: 35 to 44 year olds were less concerned regarding Illegal Drug Use, 60+ year olds were less concerned about Teen Pregnancy, and 18 to 34 year olds were concerned to a lesser degree for Population Growth.

What this chart shows: Top Five Concerns in Larimer County by Gender

Top Five Concerns in Larimer County by Gender

Data Source: Health District of Northern Larimer County, Community Health Survey, 2001

See data table

What these data tell us:

Of the top five issues about which respondents were most concerned, females had a significantly higher tendency to express greater degrees of concern than males. On average, females rated the nine issues as 'Serious' or 'Very Serious' problems 40.3% more often than males did.

Additional Information:

On Compass -

Outside Compass -

Industry Standards or Targets: N/A

Data Tables:

The following tables display the issue score averages, as well as the percentages of respondents who rated each issue as a 'Serious' or 'Very Serious' problem.

Overall Community Concerns - Larimer County, 2001

Issue

Mean

Concern Percent

Alcohol Abuse

2.58

12.6%

Domestic Violence/Child Abuse

2.24

6.1%

Illegal Drug Use

2.55

11.9%

Other

3.29

3.7%

Population Growth

2.22

41.1%

Poverty

2.05

6.4%

Property Crime

2.43

2.2%

Teen Pregnancy

2.09

9.9%

Violent Crime

1.97

7.4%

Youth Crime/Gangs

2.58

2.9%

See chart

Community Concerns by Age Group - Larimer County, 2001

Issue

18 to 34

35 to 44

45 to 59

60+

Alcohol Abuse

2.59

2.53

2.66

2.44

Domestic Violence/Child Abuse

2.12

2.27

2.43

2.17

Illegal Drug Use

2.52

2.47

2.66

2.52

Population Growth

3.16

3.27

3.46

3.29

Poverty

2.08

2.26

2.32

2.30

Property Crime

2.00

2.02

2.15

2.06

Teen Pregnancy

2.41

2.42

2.54

2.29

Violent Crime

2.13

2.04

2.11

2.04

Youth Crime

1.79

2.00

2.15

2.01

Concern Percent

18 to 34

35 to 44

45 to 59

60+

Alcohol Abuse

14.3%

10.1%

13.0%

10.9%

Domestic Violence/Child Abuse

5.7%

5.0%

8.1%

5.1%

Illegal Drug Use

12.0%

9.8%

13.0%

12.0%

Population Growth

37.6%

39.1%

47.9%

41.8%

Poverty

3.9%

7.2%

7.9%

8.2%

Property Crime

2.1%

2.3%

1.9%

2.3%

Teen Pregnancy

13.3%

6.5%

9.7%

6.7%

Violent Crime

10.4%

6.2%

4.7%

6.1%

Youth Crime

1.8%

2.5%

4.2%

3.4%

See chart

Community Concerns by Gender - Larimer County, 2001

Issue

Mean

Concern Percent

Male

Female

Male

Female

Alcohol Abuse

2.49

2.67

11.8%

13.5%

Domestic Violence/Child Abuse

2.09

2.41

5.0%

7.2%

Illegal Drug Use

2.46

2.65

11.7%

12.2%

Population Growth

3.23

3.35

40.9%

41.3%

Poverty

2.10

2.34

4.6%

8.3%

Property Crime

2.00

2.11

2.0%

2.3%

Teen Pregnancy

2.32

2.54

9.0%

10.7%

Violent Crime

1.96

2.23

6.3%

6.6%

Youth Crime/Gangs

1.87

2.07

2.0%

3.8%

See chart