The Community Health Needs Assessment is a way for local leaders to track challenges standing in the way of residents leading healthy lives.
It includes information about health care access, food insecurity, school survey results and more.
Wasatch County Health Department spokesperson Lana North said staff hosted several focus groups to learn about the needs of specific populations in the community.
“One of the focus groups that we put a lot of energy into, this go-around, was our Latino population,” she said. “One area that was really important for us to try to collect data on was understanding the working population, our different religious communities.”
The health department partnered with organizations like the Wasatch Latino Coalition, Holy Cross Ministries and Intermountain Health to gather information.
One community-wide concern is the vaccination rate. Fewer students have gotten all their required vaccines, and in 2025, nine people in Wasatch County tested positive for measles.
North said the health department is trying to improve vaccine access by starting new health education initiatives, including sharing stories of people who contracted preventable illnesses like measles.
While Wasatch County scores high overall for availability of fresh produce and healthy foods, there are gaps in access. Some locals say hours are limited at local food banks and there’s not a consistent supply of fresh fruits and vegetables. Older adults in the county are also at high risk of food insecurity.
North said the county is looking for ways to help.
“One [program] is the Senior Farmers Market Nutrition program,” she said. “That goes from about May until October, so that’s a time period where we are being able to improve through both Meals on Wheels and at the senior center, improving access for a lot of seniors that go there.”
The health department also looked at data about youth collected in the statewide Student Health and Risk Prevention (SHARP) assessment. North said a few things stand out, including the age when kids are first experimenting with substance use, like vaping.
“We’re starting to see that rather than it starting in 10th grade, it’s actually coming down to our sixth-grade middle school population,” she said.
More high school students also reported having experienced dating violence on the 2025 SHARP survey than in previous years.
Relationship violence is a concern across all demographics in Wasatch County, and North said the health department is working with community partners, like Peace House and A Bolder Way Forward, to try to address the problem.
“We’re trying to figure out the root and what we can do,” she said. “Is this something that we need to teach more in schools? Is this something that we can help improve or bridge conversations between our police force and our attorney’s office?”
With the assessment complete, the health department will create a Community Health Improvement Plan to set goals for the next several years.
To read all the Community Health Needs Assessment findings, click here.
