HIA Stories from the Field

Curry County: Oregon Health Authority

Curry County Health Impact Assessment Wins National Award for Excellence

A Curry County health impact assessment (HIA) was recognized at the 2015 National Health Impact Assessment Meeting for improving community health and wellbeing. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Healthy Community Design Initiative helped fund the 2013 Curry County HIA through a cooperative agreement with the Oregon Health Authority. The HIA examined how upgrading manufactured homes could improve the health of Curry County residents. It also recommended ways for the proposed housing upgrade pilot project to meet health needs.

Curry County is located along the southern coast of Oregon. The area has extremely high levels of poverty, and 6,000 residents live in manufactured homes. Up to 40% of these manufactured homes have outlived their intended lifespan and are now considered substandard for living.

Low incomes and the difficulty of getting loans for manufactured homes can make repair or replacement difficult for many county residents. Under existing programs, manufactured and substandard housing did not qualify for repair or replacement aid

County officials discovered that families living in older manufactured homes often suffered falls and respiratory conditions, such as asthma. They proposed a pilot project called the Housing Stock Upgrade Initiative. The initiative would provide lower-cost loans or funds to make repairing or replacing a manufactured home more affordable to County residents

The HIA gathered information for the proposed initiative. It found that replacing older manufactured homes through this loan program could greatly improve residents’ physical and mental health. The HIA team found that the upgrade initiative could improve indoor air quality and home structural integrity and accommodate aging residents.

Several promising outcomes have resulted from the HIA’s recommendations:

• A coalition of state and local organizations is implementing the pilot project.
• Nearly 3,000 Curry County residents may be eligible for financial aid to replace their manufactured homes.
• Manufactured home builders are voluntarily creating and adopting new design standards to match customer health needs. These include making doorways large enough for a wheelchair.
• Meyer Memorial Trust has committed almost $1.5 million to repair and replace substandard manufactured homes in Curry County.

For more information:

Click here to watch the video about Curry County’s HIA.

Read the full report: Curry County Report [PDF - 817 KB]

Read the executive summary of the report: Curry HIA Summary [PDF - 541 KB]