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Mobilizing Action Toward Community Health

By Staff Reporters

The County Health Rankings projects aims to demonstrate that where we live matters to our health.

For example, the health of a community depends on many different factors – ranging from individual health behaviors, education and jobs, to quality of health care, to the environment. This first-of-its-kind collection of 50 reports – one per state – is reported to help community leaders see that where we live, learn, work, and play influences how healthy we are and how long we live.

And – perhaps ever more importantly, the type and quality of the medical care we receive.

A Collaborative

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is collaborating with the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute to develop rankings for each state’s counties. This model has been used to rank the health of counties in Wisconsin for the past six years.

Mobilizing Action Toward Community Health 

The County Health Rankings are a key component of the Mobilizing Action Toward Community Health (MATCH) project. MATCH is a collaboration between the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute.

The Website

The project’s web site provides access to the 50 state reports, ranking each county within the 50 states according to its health outcomes and the multiple health factors that determine a county’s health. Each county receives a summary rank for its health outcomes and health factors and also for the four different types of health factors: health behaviors, clinical care, social and economic factors, and the physical environment. Each county can also drill down to see specific county-level data (as well as state benchmarks) for the measures upon which the rankings are based.

The Ratings and Rankings

It is hoped that the Rankings will serve as a real “call to action” for state and local health departments to develop broad-based solutions in their community so all residents can be healthy. The Rankings team works with health departments to help take advantage of the discussions and opportunities that will arise from the release of the Rankings.

But, efforts must also be made to mobilize community leaders outside the public health sector to take action and invest in programs and policy changes that address barriers to good health and help residents lead healthier lives. This includes education officials; elected and appointed officials, including mayors, governors, health commissioners, city/county councils, legislators, and staff; businesses and employers; the health care sector, and others.

Assessment

The founders believe that the County Health Rankings web site will serve as a corner stone of the project, a place where people from all these sectors can find Rankings data, as well as action steps and the latest news about the multiple factors that determine our health.

Conclusion

And so, your thoughts and comments on this ME-P are appreciated. Give em’ a click and tell us what you think: http://www.countyhealthrankings.org How similar, or dissimilar, is the 20 year old Dartmouth Atlas Project that has documented glaring variations in how medical resources are distributed and used in the United States. The DAP uses Medicare data to provide comprehensive information and analysis about national, regional, and local markets, as well as individual hospitals and their affiliated physicians? http://www.dartmouthatlas.org

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Filed under: Quality Initiatives, Research & Development | Tagged: CMS, County Health Rankings, Dartmouth Atlas Project, medical quality, medicare, Mobilizing Action Toward Community Health, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute | 3 Comments »