Posted on March 17, 2018
Author Jacque Ryan, WKVI
The annual County Health Rankings Reports have been released by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin’s Population Health Institute.
While Pulaski County Ranked higher than Starke County in health factors and outcomes, their rank fell compared to last year while Starke County saw an improvement in each category.
Out of all 92 counties within the state of Indiana, Starke County was ranked in 79th place for health outcomes compared to 86th last year. Meanwhile in 2018 Pulaski County was ranked in the 53rd spot compared to 47th in 2017.
Health outcomes are measured by assessing the frequency of premature death and certain quality of life factors such as the percentage of poor physical and mental health days and the percentage of low birth weights.
In the health factors category, Pulaski County was ranked at 49th this year, falling from the rank of 37th in the previous year. Starke County came in lower than Pulaski, ranked number 86. However, that is one place higher than where it was ranked in 2017.
That section incorporates health behaviors, such as smoking, obesity, and teen birth rates as well as the physical environment of a county, social and economic factors and clinical care statistics.
When it comes to health factors, there were a few areas where the two counties were not so different. Adult smoking in Starke County was reported at 22 percent while Pulaski reported 20 percent and there was only a one percent difference between the excessive drinking statistics which came in at 16 percent for Starke and 17 percent for Pulaski.
Some of the biggest differences in health factor statistics came from those related to exercise opportunities and adult obesity.
Although Starke County lists a significantly higher percentage in the access to exercise opportunities category, reporting 64 percent compared Pulaski’s 35 percent the report indicates that adult obesity in Starke County is at 36 percent compared to 30 percent in Pulaski County.
Click the following links to view the entire reports for Starke and Pulaski, to compare counties and to learn more about the County Health Rankings reports.
Showing posts with label University of Wisconsin's Population Health Institute. Show all posts
Showing posts with label University of Wisconsin's Population Health Institute. Show all posts
Saturday, March 17, 2018
Thursday, March 30, 2017
Starke County Sees Slight Improvements in Annual Health Rankings
Posted on March 30, 2017
Author Michael Gallenberger, WKVI
Starke County has moved up slightly in annual health rankings, but it’s still toward the bottom. The County Health Rankings, which are put together each year by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin’s Population Health Institute, were released Wednesday.
They show that Starke County ranks 86th of Indiana’s 92 counties when it comes to health outcomes, like length and quality of life. That’s four places better than last year. But when it comes to health factors, which include everything from health behaviors and education levels, to air quality and access to health care, Starke County remains in 87th place.
Moving Starke County Forward was formed in 2012 to improve those rankings. Board member Jordan Morris says the group continues to make an impact, little by little. “We may not jump 40 rankings because there are also other counties that are working hard to improve health in their area,” she says. “But I think Starke County has done an excellent job, especially at collaborating and coming together, all of the different agencies joining together to impact this issue. It’s been really good here to see that.”
She points out that a few areas have seen some major improvements since Moving Starke County Forward began. “The first one being the high school graduation rate – that has improved significantly,” she says. “Back in 2011, it was 70 percent, and now we’re at 91 percent. And then also when it comes to education, the amount of individuals living in Starke County with some college has increased from 40 percent to 51 percent. The unemployment rate has significantly decreased.”
But many challenges remain. “The adult obesity rate – back in 2011, it was 30 percent, and now it’s up to 36 percent,” she says. “So that has worsened. And then we noticed that children in single-parent households, they have that impacting social and economic factor, and we do have more children this year, as opposed to 2011 that are living in single-parent households.” When it comes to clinical care, which includes access to physicians, dentists, and mental health providers, as well as the percentage of uninsured residents, Starke County ranked 90th.
As for why Starke County overall ranks far below some of its neighbors, like Pulaski and Marshall counties, Morris says the county’s premature death rate has a big impact. “That’s an area that we’ve looked at, and we’ve pulled local data,” she explains. “We’ve worked closely with the Starke County Health Department, and we’ve looked at what could be impacting the premature death rate. One of the areas that we thought would be interesting to pull is data from drug overdose deaths and looking at the ages where people are overdosing and dying.”
She says increased access to opioid antidote Narcan is making a big difference, but the changes are not reflected yet in the County Health Rankings.
Author Michael Gallenberger, WKVI
Starke County has moved up slightly in annual health rankings, but it’s still toward the bottom. The County Health Rankings, which are put together each year by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin’s Population Health Institute, were released Wednesday.
They show that Starke County ranks 86th of Indiana’s 92 counties when it comes to health outcomes, like length and quality of life. That’s four places better than last year. But when it comes to health factors, which include everything from health behaviors and education levels, to air quality and access to health care, Starke County remains in 87th place.
Moving Starke County Forward was formed in 2012 to improve those rankings. Board member Jordan Morris says the group continues to make an impact, little by little. “We may not jump 40 rankings because there are also other counties that are working hard to improve health in their area,” she says. “But I think Starke County has done an excellent job, especially at collaborating and coming together, all of the different agencies joining together to impact this issue. It’s been really good here to see that.”
She points out that a few areas have seen some major improvements since Moving Starke County Forward began. “The first one being the high school graduation rate – that has improved significantly,” she says. “Back in 2011, it was 70 percent, and now we’re at 91 percent. And then also when it comes to education, the amount of individuals living in Starke County with some college has increased from 40 percent to 51 percent. The unemployment rate has significantly decreased.”
But many challenges remain. “The adult obesity rate – back in 2011, it was 30 percent, and now it’s up to 36 percent,” she says. “So that has worsened. And then we noticed that children in single-parent households, they have that impacting social and economic factor, and we do have more children this year, as opposed to 2011 that are living in single-parent households.” When it comes to clinical care, which includes access to physicians, dentists, and mental health providers, as well as the percentage of uninsured residents, Starke County ranked 90th.
As for why Starke County overall ranks far below some of its neighbors, like Pulaski and Marshall counties, Morris says the county’s premature death rate has a big impact. “That’s an area that we’ve looked at, and we’ve pulled local data,” she explains. “We’ve worked closely with the Starke County Health Department, and we’ve looked at what could be impacting the premature death rate. One of the areas that we thought would be interesting to pull is data from drug overdose deaths and looking at the ages where people are overdosing and dying.”
She says increased access to opioid antidote Narcan is making a big difference, but the changes are not reflected yet in the County Health Rankings.
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