Education
2018 County Health Rankings
Summary of findings from University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute: After nearly a decade of improvement, there are early signs that the percentage of babies born at low birth weight may be on the rise (8.2% in 2016, a 2% increase from 2014). Low birth weight is a key measure of health and quality of life. Some places and groups of people have fewer social and economic opportunities, which also limit their ability to be healthy. More than 1 out of every 5 youth in the bottom performing counties do not graduate from high school in four years. For American Indian/Alaskan Native, Black, and Hispanic youth, it is 1 out of 4. Residential segregation provides a clear example of the link between race and place. Black residents have higher rates of child poverty, low birth weight, and in...
Strengthening the Rural Health Workforce: Tools, Resources and Outcomes
Join the Health Resources and Administration Services (HRSA) Workforce Ground Rounds Webinar Series on November 14, 2017, 3:30-4:30p.m. for Strengthening the Rural Health Workforce: Tools, Resources and Outcomes. Purpose: To increase awareness of health workforce needs in rural communities and share innovative, best practices regarding the need to recruit and retain health and allied health professionals in rural communities. Objectives: Discuss recruitment and retention issues in rural settings for health and allied health providers. Identify unique challenges of attracting health care providers to rural areas. Discover training opportunities and career ladder progression programs in rural areas. Learn more at online at BHW Grand Rounds.
Telemedicine Delivers Better Access to Health Care
by Katherine Restrepo, Contributor While the Congressional GOP has good intentions to restore more health freedom at the state level, they have so far failed to reach a consensus. Meanwhile, market forces and the states are already working to make health care access more convenient, price transparent, and affordable. Telemedicine, for example, is a multibillion dollar industry and a leading innovation in the health care arena. Defined as “the use of technology to deliver health care, health information, or health education at a distance,” telemedicine helps people connect more quickly to their primary, specialty, and tertiary medical needs. Patients can submit questions about non-urgent health issues and receive responses from a distant medical provider within hours without having to sacri...
Improving Cancer Control in Rural Communities
by Robert T. Croyle, PhD Summary: Two new studies, one by NCI researchers and one led by CDC researchers, have found that cancer rates are higher in rural areas than in urban areas. The decrease in cancer death rates in the United States has been uplifting news for the nation. A point of frustration, however, has been the continued ethnic/racial and socioeconomic disparities in cancer outcomes. Two new studies are putting a spotlight on disparities that have received less attention: those in rural communities across the country. The studies — one by NCI researchers (on which I’m a co-author) and one led by researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — found that cancer death rates are higher in rural areas than in urban areas. The CDC study also showed that, although ca...
What Works? Strategies to Improve Rural Health
The County Health Rankings & Roadmaps program helps communities identify and implement solutions that make it easier for people to be healthy in their neighborhoods, schools, and workplaces. Ranking the health of nearly every county in the nation, the County Health Rankings illustrate what we know when it comes to what is keeping people healthy or making people sick. The Roadmaps show what we can do to create healthier places to live, learn, work, and play. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation collaborates with the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute to bring this program to communities across the nation. Each year, the County Health Rankings bring actionable data to counties across the country, serving as a call to action to improve local health. The 2016 Rankings includ...