The Fishers Health Department released its 2025 Community Health Assessment Friday, identifying mental health across the lifespan, healthy living and aging well as the three areas where the department will focus its work in the coming years.

The report caps a year of data collection that included local, state and national health statistics, nearly 1,500 community survey responses and input from more than 60 focus group participants.

Residents generally rate their own health well. The assessment found 92.4% of Fishers adults report moderate, good or excellent overall well-being, and 86.5% said they are satisfied with life. But 36.4% reported anxiety and 25.2% reported depression, and mental health was the health concern residents named most often.

“The community’s desires for more focus on mental health, aging well and healthy living came through clearly in both the data and what residents told us,” said Monica Heltz, director and health officer of the Fishers Health Department.

Heltz said the goal is “connecting people to prevention measures before poor health outcomes become a reality.” The department said it will announce a free mental health navigation service in the coming days to help residents find resources and treatment.

The assessment also documents a sharp demographic shift. Adults 65 and older are the fastest-growing age group in Fishers, up 188% between 2010 and 2024. The department links that growth to rising demand for fall prevention, mobility and caregiver support, social connection and services that help older residents stay in their homes. The National Association of County and City Health Officials recently gave the department a Model Practice Award for its fall prevention program.

Under healthy living, the report notes that obesity, high blood pressure and high cholesterol still affect a significant share of Fishers adults, and that heart disease and cancer remain the leading causes of death.

On access to care, nearly 97% of adult residents have health insurance and about nine in 10 have a regular health care provider. Still, more than 12% said they delayed care in the past year, most often because of cost or trouble getting an appointment.

Mayor Scott Fadness said the city’s decision to form its own health department is what made the local detail possible.

“Creating a local health department gave Fishers the ability to better understand the health needs of our own community and respond in ways that make sense for our residents,” Fadness said.

The assessment will feed into a Community Health Improvement Plan laying out specific strategies for the next several years. Both documents are part of the department’s push for initial accreditation through the Public Health Accreditation Board, a national body that reviews health departments against a set of performance standards.

The full report is posted at Health.FishersIN.gov/CommunityHealthAssessment.