Health in Bella Coola 1 · CCHS 2023/2024, Statistics Canada
Health in Bella Coola 1 beats almost every Canadian town
In the health survey, 59% of adults in the region rate their health very good or excellent, more than British Columbia’s 50%. Measured from where Bella Coola 1’s residents live, a hospital is 2.8 km away, near the 3.7 km most towns see. Bella Coola 1 is a First Nations reserve: a Health grade is possible, an overall grade and a ranking are not. People on reserves are outside the survey’s sample: the figures here are the surrounding region’s, and don’t describe Bella Coola 1 itself. Health gives Bella Coola 1 a grade of A+.
British Columbia: 50% · The very good or excellent health, chronic conditions, smokers and life expectancy numbers here cover the North Shore/Coast Garibaldi Health Service Delivery Area
Chronic conditions
12%
arthritis, diabetes, high blood pressure: average share
Smoking is rarer around Bella Coola 1 than in the typical Canadian town’s region, and 3.7% of adults smoke every day. Conditions and habits ↓
Longer lives in the region
Life expectancy in the region around Bella Coola 1 runs 2.8 years ahead of the typical Canadian town’s, and at 65 people can expect 22.6 more years (2022/2024). The wider area ↓
Long-term conditions run low
Arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure are rarer here than in the typical town’s region, even for its ages: 16% report high blood pressure and 4% diabetes. Conditions and habits ↓
Upbeat about their health
The survey’s age-standardised figure sits 7.6 points over the typical Canadian town’s, and 59% answered very good or excellent. Health survey ↓
From Statistics Canada: the health survey and life expectancy for the health region, the deprivation index for the town; distances from the healthcare facilities database and OpenStreetMap.
Health Grade
Bella Coola 1 grades A+ for health
Each input ranked against Canadian towns of 2,500 or more: the region’s four, the town’s distance to a hospital.
Very good or excellent health (59%)Better than 87% of Canadian towns
Chronic conditions (12%)Better than almost every Canadian town
Smokers (6.5%)Better than almost every Canadian town
Life expectancy (84.3)Better than almost every Canadian town
Distance to a hospital (2.8 km)Better than 81% of Canadian towns
The region’s four figures and the town’s distance to a hospital are each ranked against Canadian towns of 2,500 or more, then averaged.
How the grade works
Health is graded as a regional score, labelled as such: very good or excellent self-rated health, chronic conditions (arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure averaged) and smoking from the Canadian Community Health Survey, each age-standardised so an older region isn’t marked down for age alone, and life expectancy at birth, all for the health region. The residents’ average distance to a hospital is the one input measured for the town itself, so towns in one region can still differ.
Conditions and habits
High blood pressure for 16% of adults in the region, diabetes for 4%
What the survey finds on conditions, weight and habits for the region, the province as the tick.
Conditions and weight · 2023/2024
High blood pressure
16%
Arthritis
20%
Diabetes
4%
Obese (self-reported)
23%
Mood disorder
15%
Anxiety disorder
12%
Habits · 2023/2024
Smoke daily or now and then
6.5%
Smoke every day
3.7%
Heavy drinking
23%
British Columbia
Self-reported obesity, 23%, sits within a few points of British Columbia (25%). Heavy drinking runs above the province, 23% to 19%.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (table 13-10-0972), as published, not adjusted for age; obesity from reported height and weight. The anxiety disorder figure is the 2021/2022 estimate: Statistics Canada found the latest too unreliable to publish here.
The wider area
How the 16 health regions in British Columbia compare on life expectancy
What Statistics Canada publishes above the town: life expectancy for each health region in British Columbia, and the deprivation index for the town’s own areas.
84.3
years at birth, 2022/2024
22.6
more years expected at 65
3rd
longest of 16 regions in British Columbia
Life expectancy at birth by health region · 2022/2024
Richmond Health Service Delivery Area86.8
Fraser North Health Service Delivery Area84.4
North Shore/Coast Garibaldi Health Service Delivery Area84.3
Vancouver Health Service Delivery Area83.3
Fraser South Health Service Delivery Area83.2
South Vancouver Island Health Service Delivery Area82.7
Okanagan Health Service Delivery Area81.0
East Kootenay Health Service Delivery Area80.5
Fraser East Health Service Delivery Area80.0
Central Vancouver Island Health Service Delivery Area79.8
Kootenay-Boundary Health Service Delivery Area79.5
North Vancouver Island Health Service Delivery Area79.5
Thompson/Cariboo Health Service Delivery Area78.8
Northwest Health Service Delivery Area77.0
Northeast Health Service Delivery Area76.9
Northern Interior Health Service Delivery Area76.6
This region is 3rd longest-lived of 16 in British Columbia, on a scale from 76.6 to 86.8 years.
Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation · national quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprived
Residential instability3.0
Economic dependency3.9
Ethno-cultural composition2.6
Situational vulnerability5.0
Statistics Canada scores every small area from 1 to 5 on each dimension; Bella Coola 1’s bars are its residents’ average, shown and not graded.
Life expectancy: Statistics Canada table 13-10-0988, three-year estimate 2022/2024, by health region.
Health survey
59% in the region call their health very good or excellent, more than in British Columbia (50%)
How adults in the health region answered the survey, not adjusted for age; the tick marks the province.
Share of adults, as answered · 2023/2024
Health very good or excellent
59%
Health fair or poor
14%
Mental health very good or excellent
55%
Mental health fair or poor
16%
Most days quite a bit stressful
22%
Strong sense of belonging
69%
Satisfied with life
85%
British Columbia
More adults here report very good or excellent mental health than across British Columbia (55% against 49%), while 22% call most days stressful.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
For its deprivation
The region lives 1.4 years less than its deprivation predicts
The comparison runs between 102 health regions, each shared by its towns; Bella Coola 1’s region’s dot is under the line.
Situational vulnerability: residents’ average quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprivedLife expectancy at birth (years)
Shorter lives come with deeper deprivation across the 102 regions (correlation −0.83). Even allowing for its score of 1.7, Bella Coola 1’s region’s 84.3 years sit under the line’s 85.7. It outlives 6 of the 10 regions nearest it on the index, whose median is 83.5 years.
Life expectancy: Statistics Canada table 13-10-0988, 2022/2024, by health region. Deprivation: Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation 2021 (situational vulnerability), averaged over each region’s towns by their residents; income: 2021 Census median household income, averaged the same way. The averages and the line are TownRatings calculations.
Getting care
Getting to hospital from Bella Coola 1: 2.8 km on average
Straight-line distances from each part of Bella Coola 1, weighted by who lives there.
Hospital
2.8 km
residents’ average distance
the typical Canadian town: 3.7 km
Clinic
2.7 km
community health centre or clinic, residents’ average
Pharmacy
191 km
residents’ average distance
0.0 within 3 km of a typical home
More than 30 km from a hospital
0%
share of residents
Emergency
911
police, fire, ambulance; 811 for health advice in most provinces
Compared with 4.4 km for the typical town in British Columbia and 3.7 km for the typical Canadian town, Bella Coola 1 is on the near side.
What counts as a hospital. Hospitals and clinics come from Statistics Canada’s facilities database, built from provincial lists of different dates, and a listed hospital may have no emergency department.
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Adjusted for age. Self-rated health, chronic conditions and smoking enter the grade adjusted to Canada’s adult age mix, though the survey block prints them as people answered.
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Distances are straight lines. A straight line from each neighbourhood’s centre to the nearest facility, weighted by who lives there, is shorter than any drive.
•
Deprivation is context. None of the four deprivation scores enters the grade; they come from the 2021 index, which skips the territories.
•
Regional figures. Every place in the health region carries the same survey and life-expectancy figures; what is measured for Bella Coola 1 itself is the trip to care.
Questions about health in Bella Coola 1
How healthy is Bella Coola 1?
Self-rated health, chronic conditions, smoking and life expectancy all come out ahead of the typical Canadian town. On arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure, the region’s average share is 12%.
How is Bella Coola 1’s Health Grade worked out?
Canada’s grades haven’t been set, so Bella Coola 1 has none yet; when they are, Health will set its region and its hospital distance against the typical Canadian town. As a First Nations reserve it gets no overall grade, and the survey doesn’t interview people on reserves, so the regional figures don’t describe it.
What is the life expectancy in Bella Coola 1?
Women in Bella Coola 1’s region live to 86.3 on average and men to 82.3, Statistics Canada’s 2022/2024 estimate.
How far is Bella Coola 1 from a hospital?
Residents of Bella Coola 1 have a clinic 2.7 km away on average and a pharmacy 191 km away, in straight lines.
Photo: Muskwatch · CC BY-SA 4.0