2015 County Health Rankings Released

The County Health Rankings & Roadmaps is a collaboration between the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute. The program helps communities identify and implement solutions that make it easier for people to be healthy in their homes, schools, workplaces, and neighborhoods.

Published online the Rankings help counties understand what influences how healthy residents are and how long they will live. The Rankings are unique in their ability to measure the current
overall health of each county in all 50 states. They also look at a variety of measures that affect the future health of communities, such as high school graduation rates, access to healthy foods, rates of smoking, obesity, and teen births.

Nationally, this year’s Rankings show that the healthiest counties in each state have higher college attendance, fewer preventable hospital stays, and better access to parks and gyms. The least healthy counties in each state have more smokers, more teen births, and more alcohol related car crash deaths. This report also looks at distribution in income and the links between income levels and health.

The County Health Rankings & Roadmaps program offers data, tools, and resources to help communities throughout their journey to build a Culture of Health. Also part of the program is the RWJF Culture of Health Prize which honors communities that are working together to build a healthier, more vibrant community.

Communities can use the Rankings to garner support for local health improvement initiatives among government agencies, health care providers, community organizations, business leaders, policy makers, and the public.

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and United Health Foundation Award $700,000 in Community Health Grants to National Business Coalition on Health Members

To reduce debilitating and expensive chronic diseases and unnecessary procedures, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) and United Health Foundation (UHF) are awarding a total of $700,000 in community health grants to nine National Business Coalition on Health(NBCH) member coalitions. The awards will provide the coalition communities with resources to assess their key health challenges and plan or implement efforts to solve them.

Activities from the various coalitions across the United States include efforts to decrease obesity and tobacco-use rates, jumpstart healthy eating and living efforts, lower the prevalence of childhood obesity, and reduce elective pre-term births.

Five coalitions that recently completed a community health improvement planning process will receive $100,000 each to carry out their action plans. In addition, four coalitions will receive $50,000 each for their health planning efforts, capitalizing on the lessons learned through participation in previous NBCH-United Health Foundation programs.

The five coalitions awarded the $100,000 implementation grants are: Lancaster County Business Group on Health in Pennsylvania; Memphis Business Group on Health; Chicago-based Midwest Business Group on Health; St. Louis Area Business Health Coalition; and Savannah Business Group in Savannah, Ga. The four coalitions awarded the $50,000 planning grants are: Arizona Business Coalition on Health; Florida Health Care Coalition; Oregon Coalition of Health Care Purchasers; and Greater Philadelphia Business Coalition on Health.

Click here to read the full press release.