This past March, Health Assessment and Research for Communities (HARC), which has been tracking our community’s health for the past 14 years, released their latest data on the well-being and quality of life for Coachella Valley residents.

While the global pandemic is certain to change these 2019 statistics, the information obtained on hundreds of topics is invaluable to those seeking grants, reporting on local health care, allocating funding, or seeking baseline information on the health of our local population. By using the information to demonstrate needs, the data has helped bring in over $15 million in funding since 2007.

During 2019, HARC conducted the Community Health Survey via random-digit-dialing of residents in the valley to obtain a representative snapshot for data that is not available from any other source. The effort was underwritten by the Desert Healthcare District along with support from a number of local health care, government and non-profit organizations.

The survey provides updates on many common topics such as number of insured, chronic disease, mental health and the health of our children, and adds many new topics including housing stability, loneliness, opioid use, recreational marijuana, adverse childhood experiences, conversations with children regarding social media, and more.

The information is currently available in a downloadable Executive Report which includes summaries, explanations and interpretations of the data along with accompanying data visualizations. Thanks to a grant from the City of Palm Desert, you can also request a free hard copy be mailed while supplies last. The data will be available on HARC’s searchable database, HarcSearch, later this year; statistics from 2007-2016 are currently available at that site.

For more information, visit www.harcdata.org.