Health at work and community tightly linked: New employer engagement tool

Health at work and in the community is tightly linked. Unhealthy communities can compromise employer investments to improve employee health and productivity and present an economic barrier to product consumption and economic investments.

A healthy community, on the other hand, may be more desirable to live and work and therefore, good for business. For several years the National Business Coalition on Health (NBCH) has facilitated engagement between employers and community stakeholders in population health improvement strategies. NBCH has supported community health grant projects, provided technical assistance, and developed educational materials for business coalitions and partners.

This newly-developed engagement tool helps coalitions partner with local employers and other stakeholders to improve health in their communities. It includes:

• Assessment of an employer’s priorities and why they might want to participate in community-level health improvement activities
• Results from County Health Rankings, ranked by local opportunities for improvement relative to the national average
• Potential next steps and resources
• Employer case studies
• Financial impact analysis framework and calculator

More information, including links to the tool and an informational webinar, is available here. This project was conducted with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s County Health Rankings and Roadmaps Program. The tool was developed by Discern Health.

County Health Rankings Webinar

Have you heard of the County Health Rankings & Roadmaps program but would like to learn a bit more about the program? Join the County Health Rankings team for this webinar which will provide a comprehensive overview of the program.

On this webinar they will discuss:
• Why we rank and why rankings are useful;
• The County Health Rankings model and measures;
• The 4 components of the County Health Roadmaps project; and
• How to use the Rankings & Roadmaps to ignite action in your community.

This webinar includes a tour of the County Health Rankings & Roadmaps website as well an introduction to new features in 2014.

This webinar will be Tuesday, April 1st from 3-4 pm Eastern Daylight Time, 2-3 pm Central Time, 1-2 pm Mountain Time, 12 Noon - 1 pm Pacific Time, 11 am - 12 Noon for Alaska, and 10 - 11 am for Hawaii.

You can register here.

5th Annual County Health Rankings Released

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin's Population Health Institute have released the fifth annual County Health Rankings. An easy-to-use snapshot, the Rankings reveal the overall health of nearly every county in the nation. It allows each state to see how people from one county to another compare on a range of factors from housing to transportation to community safety and offers ways to take action to promote lifelong health and ensure that every community is a healthy place to live, learn, work, and play. Learn more at www.countyhealthrankings.org.  

RWJF Roadmap to Health Prizes

As you might be aware, the latest County Health Rankings were released last week. Up to six RWJF Roadmaps to Health Prize winning communities will be honored in 2014 and each will receive a no-strings-attached $25,000 cash prize. Winning communities’ success stories will be celebrated and shared broadly in a variety of ways and may include live local and national celebratory events, meetings and conferences, Web and online platforms, and video, social, broadcast and print media—all with the goal of raising awareness and inspiring locally-driven change across the country. The invitation to apply for this prize is being extended to all U.S. communities working toward better health. The prize is an opportunity for RWJF, UWPHI and the nation to honor and promote these successes.

The Call for Applications for the second round of the RWJF Roadmaps to Health Prize was released March 20 in conjunction with the release of the 2013 County Health Rankings. The Phase I application will be due May 23, 2013. To find out more about the prizes and application process, you are invited to join RWJF on Tuesday, April 2 from 12-1 pm Central Daylight Time (1-2 pm Eastern Daylight Time) for the RWJF Roadmaps to Health Prize Informational Webinar. This informational webinar will provide details about the second round of the prize, including theapplication and selection processes. We encourage anyone having an interest in the prize to participate. There will be time to answer participant questions as well.

New County Health Rankings Released

The 2013 County Health Rankings have been released, which examine the health and well-being of people living in nearly every county in the United States and show that how long and well people live depends on multiple factors beyond just their access to medical care. The Rankings allow counties to see what’s making residents sick or healthy and how they compare to other counties in the same state. The County Health Rankings, now in its fourth year, is a joint project of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute.

The Rankings examine 25 factors that influence health, including rates of childhood poverty and smoking, obesity levels, teen birth rates, access to physicians and dentists, rates of high school graduation and college attendance, access to healthy foods, levels of physical inactivity, and percentages of children living in single parent households.  

The following national trends can be observed in this year's data:

• While rates of premature death are at the lowest level in 20 years, the unhealthiest counties still have people dying too early at rates more than twice that of the healthiest counties.
• Child poverty rates have not improved since 2000, with more than one in five children living in poverty.  
• Violent crime has decreased by almost 50 percent over the past two decades.
• The counties where people die too early and don’t feel well either mentally or physically have the highest rates of smoking, teen births, and physical inactivity, and more frequent stays in the hospital that could have been prevented.
• Teen birth rates are more than twice as high in the least healthy counties than in the healthiest counties. 

Newest Release From County Health Rankings & Roadmaps: What Works for Health

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin have announced the newest release from County Health Rankings & Roadmaps: What Works for Health, an online searchable menu of policies and programs focusing on factors that make communities healthier places to live, learn, work and play.  Because we know that evidence matters when it comes to developing and implementing solutions to problems that affect communities, each of the programs included in What Works for Health is given an evidence rating. The highest-rated programs and policies have been shown to work.

What Works for Health is easy to use. Local leaders, including coalitions and employers, can choose a health factor of interest (i.e. tobacco use, employment, access to health care, environmental quality, etc.) and browse through the evidence ratings for particular programs, policies, or system changes that address the particular health factor of interest.

Together, the County Health Rankings & Roadmaps and the new What Works for Health can give employers in a community a profile of their county’s health, guidance to take action, and information on evidence-informed strategies that can make their communities a healthier place.  What Works for Health is a collection of policies, programs and system changes that address the factors that we know affect community health. Each of these strategies is rated based on the scientific strength of the evidence used to design it.  Many communities are faced with similar challenges that we know are linked to health, including a lack of safe places for children to play, poor air quality for all residents, declining high school graduation rates, and difficulty getting health care, for example. A database of existing strategies that effectively address common community health challenges and priorities is a starting point to help leaders shape their approaches and align with coalitions and employers.

Roadmaps to Health Community Grants

The Roadmaps to Health Community Grants, which support two-year state and local efforts among policymakers, business, education, health care, public health and community organizations, are managed by Community Catalyst, a national consumer health advocacy organization.

These grantees are working to create positive policy or systems changes that address the social and economic factors that impact the health of people in their community. Read on to see the first round of awardees...

County Health Rankings 101 Webinar

Heard of the County Health Rankings but want more information on how to use them in your community? If yes, then the County Health Rankings 101 Webinar is for you.

This webinar will occur on October 24, 2011, at 2:00 pm CDT (3:00 pm EDT).

On the County Health Rankings 101 webinar we will discuss:

• Why we rank and why it is useful; 
• The County Health Rankings model and measures; 
• How to integrate the County Health Rankings into your work; and 
• How to use the Rankings to ignite action in your community. 

In addition, there will be time for you to ask us your general questions about the County Health Rankings. Please click here to register.