MONROE - A recently released report ranking Green County in the top third of counties in Wisconsin in overall health does not tell the whole story but does help focus local efforts to improve, say county health officials.
Green County ranked among the top third of the healthiest counties in Wisconsin and Lafayette County landed near the middle of the rankings in the 2011 County Health Rankings, released March 30 by the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
The County Health Rankings is a comprehensive report that uses standardized methods to measure health and longevity. The rankings are based on the concept that living in a healthy community - such as one that allows more access to early childhood education programs, healthier foods or more opportunities for physical activity - makes leading a healthy lifestyle easier for residents.
Green County improved on its previous performance in the report, rising to 21st place in the state, up from 30th last year, said RoAnn Warden, director of Green County Health Services.
"We can't compare (the ranking) to last year, because they added some categories," Warden said. "But I can compare it to counties of similar size, and find out what they're doing to help their communities."
Warden said year-to-year comparisons are not possible, because the report has made changes to its categories and to the weighting of some items within categories.
But the report is useful, as Green County currently conducts its health needs assessment and develops a community health improvement plan.
"It is just one tool we use to assess the county health," Warden said.
Debbie Siegenthaler, director of Health Services in Lafayette County, believes residents' health in that county is largely impacted by socio-economic factors faced by agriculture-dependent farm families and by new Hispanic and Latino residents. Still, the county made a good showing in the social and economic sub-category, ranking 17.
"We are not rich in access to healthcare, which is disheartening, and that included dental and mental health," Siegenthaler said. "But we have made some strides" in dental and mental care.
Lafayette County retained its overall ranking (34) from last year, but fell to the bottom (72) in one sub-category, clinical care, a health factor measuring access to, and use of, healthcare. Siegenthaler said the county ranked 71 in the same sub-category last year.
The report shows the rate of uninsured adults in Lafayette County and the number of preventable hospital stays is about 50 percent higher than the state average.
The ratio of residents to primary care providers is more than twice the state average. Siegenthaler believes those three factors are related, and illustrate the county's poor economic conditions and, subsequently, its lower health ranking.
Some factors that Siegenthaler considers in evaluating residents' health are not measured in the report, she said.
"Access to healthy food is measured (in the rankings report) by how many grocery stores, farmer's markets, and community gardens you have," she said.
One item not measured in the rankings is the number of personal gardens, which also provide fresh, healthy foods, she said.
"And for access to recreation facilities, they didn't measure the parks," she added.
Access to recreation facilities and healthy foods are new indicators added this year for the report.
The healthiest of Wisconsin's 72 counties are largely suburban counties near the City of Milwaukee and on the border with the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area, with the exception of Taylor County; the least healthy counties are primarily located in rural areas of central and northern Wisconsin - with the exception of Milwaukee County, the state's most urban county in the southeast.
Wisconsin's five healthiest counties are Ozaukee, St. Croix, Washington, Waukesha, and Taylor. The five counties in the poorest health are Menominee, Adams, Marquette, Milwaukee, and Jackson.
To help counties translate the Rankings into action, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is launching a new program to help communities improve the health of their residents.
Under this new program - part of an initiative called Mobilizing Action Toward Community Health - RWJF will provide grants to strengthen broad-based community efforts to improve health.
The online report, available at www.countyhealthrankings.org, includes a snapshot of each county in Wisconsin.
Green County ranks in the top quartile of all counties for health factors (14), and Lafayette County ranks nearly in the middle (39).
University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute researchers used five measures to assess the level of overall health (health outcomes) for each county: premature death, the percent of people who report being in fair or poor health, the numbers of days people report being in poor physical and poor mental health, and the rate of low-birthweight infants.
Factors that contribute to a community's health are grouped within four categories. Health behavior looks at such issues as adult smoking, adult obesity, excessive drinking among adults and teenage births.
Clinical care assesses the number of uninsured adults, availability of primary care providers, preventable hospital stays and other factors.
The social and economic factors include high school graduation rates, adults who attended college, children in poverty, and violent crime rate.
The physical environment category rates air pollution and access to healthy foods and recreation facilities.
Green County ranks in the top quartile (25 percent) of counties for health behaviors (7) and physical environment (17). It ranks in the top half of counties for social and economic factors (22), but ranks in the bottom half of the state for clinical care (40).
Lafayette County ranks in the top quartile for social and economic factors (17) and in the top half for health behaviors (23), according to the study.
However, the county drops to the lower third of the list in physical environment (51) and comes in last for clinical care (72).
Green County ranked among the top third of the healthiest counties in Wisconsin and Lafayette County landed near the middle of the rankings in the 2011 County Health Rankings, released March 30 by the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
The County Health Rankings is a comprehensive report that uses standardized methods to measure health and longevity. The rankings are based on the concept that living in a healthy community - such as one that allows more access to early childhood education programs, healthier foods or more opportunities for physical activity - makes leading a healthy lifestyle easier for residents.
Green County improved on its previous performance in the report, rising to 21st place in the state, up from 30th last year, said RoAnn Warden, director of Green County Health Services.
"We can't compare (the ranking) to last year, because they added some categories," Warden said. "But I can compare it to counties of similar size, and find out what they're doing to help their communities."
Warden said year-to-year comparisons are not possible, because the report has made changes to its categories and to the weighting of some items within categories.
But the report is useful, as Green County currently conducts its health needs assessment and develops a community health improvement plan.
"It is just one tool we use to assess the county health," Warden said.
Debbie Siegenthaler, director of Health Services in Lafayette County, believes residents' health in that county is largely impacted by socio-economic factors faced by agriculture-dependent farm families and by new Hispanic and Latino residents. Still, the county made a good showing in the social and economic sub-category, ranking 17.
"We are not rich in access to healthcare, which is disheartening, and that included dental and mental health," Siegenthaler said. "But we have made some strides" in dental and mental care.
Lafayette County retained its overall ranking (34) from last year, but fell to the bottom (72) in one sub-category, clinical care, a health factor measuring access to, and use of, healthcare. Siegenthaler said the county ranked 71 in the same sub-category last year.
The report shows the rate of uninsured adults in Lafayette County and the number of preventable hospital stays is about 50 percent higher than the state average.
The ratio of residents to primary care providers is more than twice the state average. Siegenthaler believes those three factors are related, and illustrate the county's poor economic conditions and, subsequently, its lower health ranking.
Some factors that Siegenthaler considers in evaluating residents' health are not measured in the report, she said.
"Access to healthy food is measured (in the rankings report) by how many grocery stores, farmer's markets, and community gardens you have," she said.
One item not measured in the rankings is the number of personal gardens, which also provide fresh, healthy foods, she said.
"And for access to recreation facilities, they didn't measure the parks," she added.
Access to recreation facilities and healthy foods are new indicators added this year for the report.
The healthiest of Wisconsin's 72 counties are largely suburban counties near the City of Milwaukee and on the border with the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area, with the exception of Taylor County; the least healthy counties are primarily located in rural areas of central and northern Wisconsin - with the exception of Milwaukee County, the state's most urban county in the southeast.
Wisconsin's five healthiest counties are Ozaukee, St. Croix, Washington, Waukesha, and Taylor. The five counties in the poorest health are Menominee, Adams, Marquette, Milwaukee, and Jackson.
To help counties translate the Rankings into action, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is launching a new program to help communities improve the health of their residents.
Under this new program - part of an initiative called Mobilizing Action Toward Community Health - RWJF will provide grants to strengthen broad-based community efforts to improve health.
The online report, available at www.countyhealthrankings.org, includes a snapshot of each county in Wisconsin.
Green County ranks in the top quartile of all counties for health factors (14), and Lafayette County ranks nearly in the middle (39).
University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute researchers used five measures to assess the level of overall health (health outcomes) for each county: premature death, the percent of people who report being in fair or poor health, the numbers of days people report being in poor physical and poor mental health, and the rate of low-birthweight infants.
Factors that contribute to a community's health are grouped within four categories. Health behavior looks at such issues as adult smoking, adult obesity, excessive drinking among adults and teenage births.
Clinical care assesses the number of uninsured adults, availability of primary care providers, preventable hospital stays and other factors.
The social and economic factors include high school graduation rates, adults who attended college, children in poverty, and violent crime rate.
The physical environment category rates air pollution and access to healthy foods and recreation facilities.
Green County ranks in the top quartile (25 percent) of counties for health behaviors (7) and physical environment (17). It ranks in the top half of counties for social and economic factors (22), but ranks in the bottom half of the state for clinical care (40).
Lafayette County ranks in the top quartile for social and economic factors (17) and in the top half for health behaviors (23), according to the study.
However, the county drops to the lower third of the list in physical environment (51) and comes in last for clinical care (72).