BETHEL — With two recent surveys ranking Oxford County as the least healthy county in Maine, members of the River Valley Healthy Communities Coalition hope to take action to improve statistics.

The group will hold a community forum Wednesday, Nov. 16, from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Crescent Park School in Bethel to discuss the survey findings and brainstorm solutions.

RVHCC plans to discuss findings from a OneMaine Health Collaborative survey and the County Health Ranking survey conducted by Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin.

Tim Churchill, president of Western Maine Health, and Deborah Deatrick, vice president of community health at the OneMaine Health organization, will  present results from both surveys.

After the presentation, breakout groups will discuss access to care, hospitalization utilization, overweight/obesity, smoking, mental health, substance abuse and violence.

The statistics from the OneMaine Health Collaborative survey indicate a high rate of motor vehicle accident deaths, violent crimes and adult smoking in Oxford County.

Maine Statistical Analysis Center concluded in December 2009 that violent crimes had increased by 133.3 percent in the last 10 years in Oxford County.

Some important demographics also play into the results of the survey. One of those is the poverty level. Maine’s overall poverty level is at 12.6 percent, which is below the national average of 13.1 percent. However, Oxford County is above the national average at 14.1 percent.

The unemployment rate is also above the state’s average of 8.9 percent. Oxford County rate for 2009 was set at 11.1 percent, according to the Maine Community Action Association.

“Some of these things are out of our control,” Patricia Duguay, executive director at RVHCC, said.

Duguay added that there is room for improvement and she hopes the forum is a stepping stone toward progress for the county.

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