Health Resources for College Students in Douglas County

According to the 2018 Douglas County Health Equity Report, the largest age group in Douglas County are 20-24 year olds followed by 15-19 year olds. The county is home to three universities: Baker University in Baldwin City, Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence and the University of Kansas, also in Lawrence. The areas highest in poverty in the county are around the KU campus in Lawrence, where between 26.3% and 42.8% of residents live in poverty. This area also has one of the highest concentrations of minority residents. This data helps us to see where health disparities may affect residents more than others and also help us to target and eliminate these disparities. All people deserve a chance to be healthy, and the Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department wants to help college-aged residents achieve this good health. College students have a variety of resources at their disposal, both at their own universities and in Douglas County. We have created resource sheets for each of the three universities in Douglas County to help connect students with this health information. 

What is health equity? How is this different than equality?

Health equity means that each person is getting what they need to have a society where everyone, regardless of race, color, gender, class, sexuality, etc., is healthy. Equity is different from equality because equality means giving everyone the same regardless of other factors, such as health disparities due to racism and poverty. Equity means giving each person what they need to reach the same level, even if that means giving more to one group than the other.