At a conference in Charlotte on Wednesday, Mecklenburg County officials gathered community input and highlighted some of the most pressing health concerns for residents and ways to improve outcomes.
About 300 people gathered at Central Piedmont Community College Center in west Charlotte for the county’s Meck Design Day. They listened to spoken word poetry before breaking out to a range of workshops focused on topics such as maternal and child health and violence prevention.
The mental health session was the most popular workshop. Dr. Kimberly Scott, the county's assistant health director, says that's partly tied to the impacts of the pandemic.
“While people were trying to be safe and avoid the developments of COVID, many people were isolated,” Scott said. "We also know that people were significantly impacted financially during COVID, with many losing their jobs and other economic resources.”
In 2024, one in four adults in the county reported a diagnosis of depression. The event also highlighted how Black women face a higher risk of pregnancy deaths compared to their counterparts. The conference also featured a Spanish-speaking workshop that focused on highlighting how to improve access to care and trends developing in the Latino community.
“We're seeing rising trends amongst our Latino population, things like diabetes, heart disease,” Scott said. "So that's one area that we have our eye on when thinking about. You know, how we support and think about preventive resources and strategies.”
Going forward, the county plans to make the conference, which was first hosted in 2023, an annual event.
