Health in Oxbow · CCHS 2023/2024, Statistics Canada
Oxbow scores below 98% of Canadian towns for health
About as many adults call their health very good or excellent here as across Saskatchewan, 49% against 49%. What sets Oxbow apart within its region is distance: 51 km to a hospital on average, over 30 km for 100% of residents. Oxbow grades D− for health.
Saskatchewan: 49% · Shared with the rest of the South East health region: very good or excellent health, chronic conditions, smokers and life expectancy
Chronic conditions
20%
arthritis, diabetes, high blood pressure: average share
Around Oxbow, 17% of adults smoke daily, part of a smoking rate higher than most Canadian towns’ regions. Conditions and habits ↓
Hospital care at a distance
Residents of Oxbow live much further from a hospital than in the typical Canadian town (50 km from its centre of population), and 100% are more than 30 km away. Getting care ↓
Shorter lives in the region
Life expectancy in the region around Oxbow runs 2.9 years behind the typical Canadian town’s, and at 65 people can expect 20.0 more years (2022/2024). The wider area ↓
Behind regions as deprived
Deprivation alone, a score of 3.0, would give Oxbow’s region about 80.8 years; it stops at 78.6. For its deprivation ↓
Survey and life expectancy: the health region (Statistics Canada). Distances and deprivation: the town’s own areas.
Health Grade
Oxbow grades D− 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 (49%)Better than 32% of Canadian towns
Chronic conditions (20%)Better than 14% of Canadian towns
Smokers (20%)Better than 2% of Canadian towns
Life expectancy (78.6)Better than 16% of Canadian towns
Distance to a hospital (51 km)Better than 3% 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
In the region, high blood pressure (32%) and diabetes (10%)
Long-term conditions and habits as the region’s adults reported them; the tick marks the province.
Conditions and weight · 2023/2024
High blood pressure
32%
Arthritis
25%
Diabetes
10%
Obese (self-reported)
47%
Mood disorder
10%
Anxiety disorder
13%
Habits · 2023/2024
Smoke daily or now and then
20%
Smoke every day
17%
Heavy drinking
23%
Flu shot in the past year
39%
Saskatchewan
Obesity runs higher than in the province, at 47% of adults against 40% for Saskatchewan. Heavy drinking runs above the province, 23% to 20%.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (table 13-10-0972), as published, not adjusted for age; obesity from reported height and weight.
Getting care
The nearest hospital is 51 km from the average home in Oxbow
Straight-line distances from each part of Oxbow, weighted by who lives there.
Hospital
51 km
residents’ average distance
the typical Canadian town: 3.7 km
Clinic
0.5 km
community health centre or clinic, residents’ average
Pharmacy
28 km
residents’ average distance
0.0 within 3 km of a typical home
More than 30 km from a hospital
100%
share of residents
Emergency
911
police, fire, ambulance; 811 for health advice in most provinces
Residents of Oxbow travel further than most of the province: the typical town in Saskatchewan is 2.2 km from a hospital, the typical Canadian town 3.7 km.
Longest and shortest lives among the 7 regions in Saskatchewan
What Statistics Canada publishes above the town: life expectancy for each health region in Saskatchewan, and the deprivation index for the town’s own areas.
78.6
years at birth, 2022/2024
20.0
more years expected at 65
4th
longest of 7 regions in Saskatchewan
Life expectancy at birth by health region · 2022/2024
Saskatoon81.4
Regina80.2
South West79.9
South East78.6
North Central East77.0
North Central West76.6
Far North70.0
This region is 4th longest-lived of 7 in Saskatchewan, on a scale from 70.0 to 81.4 years.
Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation · national quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprived
Residential instability2.5
Economic dependency2.5
Ethno-cultural composition2.5
Situational vulnerability2.5
Statistics Canada scores every small area from 1 to 5 on each dimension; Oxbow’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.
For its deprivation
Shorter lives than deprivation would give: 2.2 years behind the trend
The comparison runs between 102 health regions, each shared by its towns; Oxbow’s region’s dot is under the line.
Situational vulnerability: residents’ average quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprivedLife expectancy at birth (years)
The trend through 102 regions (correlation −0.83) gives a region scored 3.0 about 80.8 years of life. Oxbow’s region falls short of it, at 78.6. All 10 regions closest to it on the index live longer; their middle figure is 80.3 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.
Health survey
48% in the region call their health very good or excellent, close to Saskatchewan (50%)
The survey’s answers for the region as given, each beside the province’s (the tick).
Share of adults, as answered · 2023/2024
Health very good or excellent
48%
Health fair or poor
16%
Mental health very good or excellent
54%
Mental health fair or poor
13%
Most days quite a bit stressful
18%
Strong sense of belonging
77%
Satisfied with life
88%
Saskatchewan
Mental health looks better than in the province too: 54% rate it very good or excellent, against 50% in Saskatchewan, and 18% find most days quite stressful.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
How to read these numbers
What this data can and can’t tell you
•
Who the survey asks. The health survey leaves out people living on reserves, full-time Canadian Forces members, people in institutions, and Nunavik and the Cree lands of James Bay.
•
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.
•
Deprivation is context. Deprivation is shown to set the scene and doesn’t count toward the grade; Statistics Canada left the territories out of the index.
•
What counts as a hospital. A “hospital” here is whatever the provinces listed as one in Statistics Canada’s database, which can mean a site without an emergency department.
•
Distances are straight lines. Roads, rivers and ferries aren’t in it: the figure is a straight line from where people live, averaged over residents.
•
Regional figures. Every place in the health region carries the same survey and life-expectancy figures; what is measured for Oxbow itself is the trip to care.
Questions about health in Oxbow
How far is Oxbow from a hospital?
Beyond the hospital, the average home in Oxbow is 0.5 km from a clinic and 28 km from a pharmacy.
What is the life expectancy in Oxbow?
Statistics Canada publishes it for Oxbow’s health region only: 80.8 years for women and 76.5 for men (2022/2024).
How is Oxbow’s Health Grade worked out?
Not so far; the grade arrives with Canada’s grading run and will set the region’s figures, plus Oxbow’s own distance to care, against the typical Canadian town.
How healthy is Oxbow?
The region trails the typical Canadian town on each of its four survey and life-expectancy figures. The three chronic conditions the grade counts average 20% of adults.
Photo: Adam sk · CC BY-SA 3.0