Annual Health of County Shows Progress and Concerns

A new County Health report examines the health and wellbeing of people living in nearly every county in the United States, and finds that rates of premature deaths are at the lowest level in 20 years. Nevertheless, people in the unhealthiest counties are dying too early at more than twice the rates of those in the healthiest counties.

According to the recent report by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute (UWPHI), Poweshiek County ranked 25^th in health outcomes. In comparison, Jasper County ranked 83; Tama County ranked 53, and Mahaska County ranked 15. The county with the highest Health Outcomes ranking was Sioux and the lowest ranked county was Appanoose.

The County Health Rankings show that how long and how well people live depends on multiple factors beyond just their access to medical care. It examines 25 factors that influence health, including rates of childhood poverty, rates of 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.

Specifics for the Grinnell Regional Medical Center service area:

• Mammography screenings still remain below the state average of 69% and below the national average of 73%. In Poweshiek County, 63% of the eligible women for mammography screenings have had one in the past year, leaving 37% of the population unchecked for breast cancer detection.

• In Iowa, the average is one dentist per 1,823 residents. In central Iowa, Jasper County has one dentist per 2,454 people and Tama have the fewest dentists with one per 4,536. Poweshiek has one dentist per 2,566 residents. This represents a potential shortage of dentists compared to the state average.

• Adult smoking continues to decline with the state average now at 18%. Poweshiek County decreased to 17%, down one percent from a year ago. Mahaska County has a 15% rate, Jasper County has an 18% and Tama County has a 17% adult smoking rate.

• Physical inactivity remains a focus for improvement in the area, with 25 to 30 percent of the population in the four-county area being inactive physically.

Although the Rankings only allow for county-to-county comparisons within a state, this year’s Rankings show significant new national trends:

• 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 don’t live as long and don’t feel as well mentally or physically have the highest rates of smoking, teen births, and physical inactivity, as well as more preventable hospital stays.

• Teen birth rates are more than twice as high in the least healthy counties than in the healthiest counties.

• Access to health care remains an important factor and this year, the rankings include residents’ access to dentists, as well as primary care doctors. Residents living in healthier counties are 1.4 times more likely to have access to a doctor and dentist than those in the least healthy counties.

To view the county data and compare to other counties in Iowa, residents may go to the online data at www.countyhealthrankings.org, by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute. The Rankings data helps to lay the groundwork for health improvement efforts of governors, mayors, business leaders, and citizens across the country.