ST. PETER — More than 30% of Nicollet County adults report feeling lonely at least sometimes.
That finding helped shape a new five-year Community Health Improvement Plan identifying connectedness as one of five top public health priorities.
Nicollet County Health and Human Services has released the plan outlining how local public health officials and community partners intend to address priority issues in the coming years.
“These are big metrics we’re looking at. We definitely can’t do it alone,” said Public Health Planner Spencer Crawford after a year of collecting data, conducting listening sessions and identifying community health concerns.
The plan identifies five pressing issues — connectedness, health literacy, transportation, youth mental health and youth substance use. Crawford said these issues rose to the top through a structured scoring process that considered the size and severity of each problem, the effectiveness of available interventions, barriers to action and community interest in addressing the issues.
Public Health Supervisor Bree Allen said the plan, referred to as the CHIP, serves as a road map for responding to findings from the county’s Community Health Assessment, completed in November 2025. While the assessment focused on understanding health challenges facing residents, Allen said the new plan focuses on what actions will be taken to address them.
“We recognize this is not encapsulating everything happening in our community related to these topics. This is our attempt to have a guiding document. Even though it’s printed right now, this is a dynamic piece that will change and modify over the next five years,” she said.
The 15-page plan states that creating lasting community change will require collaboration beyond the Nicollet County Public Health team. Allen and Crawford noted that with a staff of 12, the department cannot address every issue independently, but can help raise awareness, convene partners and support community efforts.
Connectedness
One of the plan’s central priorities is strengthening social connectedness and cites research linking strong social connections to better health outcomes and faster recovery following disasters.
To help address loneliness, the county aims to increase the number of residents who feel connected to their community. Proposed policy recommendations include supporting investment in parks, libraries, community gardens and other inclusive social spaces, Crawford said, as well as creating systems that identify social disconnection and connect residents with community resources.
One strategy calls for Nicollet County Public Health to launch a campaign encouraging neighbor-to-neighbor support during both everyday life and emergencies. Crawford said the idea emerged from research showing a strong relationship between community connectedness and disaster recovery.
The plan also encourages participation in Community Thread events in St. Peter. The collaborative program brings residents together each month over a shared meal to discuss topics chosen by the community. Allen said the program was developed to help residents who may feel disconnected, notably those facing language barriers.
Health literacy
Another major focus is health literacy, which Crawford described as a person’s ability to find, understand and use health information and services to make informed decisions and is becoming increasingly relevant as more people turn to technology for health advice.
According to the document, one in four Americans have used an artificial intelligence tool for health information or advice and he said local discussions during the Community Health Assessment process highlighted concerns about misinformation, particularly information encountered online and on social media.
The plan calls for an increase in residents’ ability to access, understand and use health information and progress will be measured through future surveys assessing confidence in accessing and understanding health information. Healthcare providers are encouraged to offer patient materials in plain language, English, Spanish and Somali and to adopt organizational practices that improve communication and simplify navigation of health services.
Transportation
Transportation may not be the first thing people think of when discussing public health, but county officials say it plays a crucial role in everyday well-being. The plan states that reliable transportation affects health by influencing access to healthcare, food, medicine and opportunities for physical activity.
Crawford said about 30% of Nicollet County residents have access to only one vehicle in their household, which can complicate transportation needs. He said listening sessions included residents who described difficulties attending appointments when a household vehicle was unavailable.
With the objective being to support healthy, safe and equitable transportation options for all county residents, policy recommendations encourage municipalities to prioritize active transportation in planning and development policies while improving coordination among transportation providers to reduce confusion and barriers related to cost and language.
One strategy supports implementation of the city of North Mankato’s Active Transportation Plan, including policy updates and infrastructure projects. The plan is designed to make walking, biking and rolling safer, more accessible and convenient. Supporters say investments in active transportation not only help residents get where they need to go, but also promote physical activity and create strong connections between neighborhoods, schools, parks and businesses.
Crawford said transportation is not traditionally considered a public health responsibility, but the department recognizes its influence on health and hopes “to raise awareness of transportation-related barriers to health.”
“Transportation as an issue hides itself,” he said. “It hides behind our car-dominant society in a way.”
Youth mental health, substance abuse
While 2025 Minnesota Student Survey data show some improvement in youth mental health following a drop during the COVID-19 pandemic, concerns remain. In Nicollet County, one in three 11th-grade girls surveyed in 2025 reported seriously considering suicide, and nearly one-quarter of ninth graders said they had felt nervous, anxious or on edge for more than half of the previous two weeks.
The plan recommends supporting healthy environments by strengthening school-based mental health services, promoting belonging and emotional skills, supporting caregivers and expanding programs such as the Youth Mental Health Navigators initiative, which helps connect youth up to 24 years old and their families with mental health resources.
The collaboration between South Central Service Cooperative and Greater Mankato Area United Way serves Blue Earth, Le Sueur, Nicollet, Waseca and Watonwan counties. Since its launch, the program has served more than 2,000 youth. The service is free, has no eligibility requirements and remains available whenever families need support.
“Mental health also doesn’t exist in a vacuum,” said navigator lead Beth Winterfeldt. “When I sit down with parents, and they’re talking about their own struggles with mental health and their children’s, they start talking about their lives and all of those intersections become really apparent because of the financial stressors, housing stressors, you name it.”
The plan also highlights positive trends in youth substance use, with lower rates of alcohol and tobacco use among local 11th graders compared with previous years, although cannabis use has remained relatively stable. To reduce alcohol, nicotine and cannabis use, the plan recommends limiting youth exposure to tobacco and vaping products, expanding social host ordinances, supporting evidence-based D.A.R.E. programming and creating a community of professionals working in youth substance use prevention and intervention.
The plan is intended to evolve over time and Crawford said as projects are completed and new opportunities emerge, strategies may be updated or added.
“There are opportunities for policy and systems change,” he said. “And the strategies, that’s actually the meat and potatoes of it. These are the actionable items, the things that we’re going to do, or the partners are going to do work towards the objective.”