County Health Rankings for 2011 Released

For Immediate Release: Friday, April 08, 2011

County Health Rankings for 2011

The 2011 County Health Rankings, a national survey of the health of counties all over the United States, was released last week. The survey helps residents, public health and community leaders, policy-makers and others to see how healthy their county is, compare it with others within their state, and find ways to improve the health of their community. Each county is ranked within the state on how healthy people are and how long they live.

Washington County ranked third compared to the 33 ranked counties in Oregon for "Health Outcomes," a measure of overall health by death and illness rates in the county, and second for "Health Factors," things that influence the health of the county.

In this second report of a three year series, Washington County's health was shown to be good compared to other counties. In particular, the best county scores were in the categories of Social and Economic Factors (3rd) and Health Behaviors (2nd). Social and Economic Factors include the rate of high school graduation, college attendance, unemployment, children in poverty, single parent households, and violent crime rate. Health Behaviors include the adult smoking rate, adult obesity, excessive drinking, motor vehicle collision death rate, sexually transmitted infections, and teen birth rate.

But the county is also at risk in the area of physical environment, where Washington County rated 28th. Physical environment is a measure of environmental factors such as air quality and access to healthy foods.

"This report is important because it helps us identify factors that are making our residents unhealthy and understand how we compare to other counties in the state," says Kathleen O'Leary, Division Manager for Washington County Public Health. "With this knowledge and by working with community partners we can take steps to improve health."

"The health of a community depends on many different factors, including individual health behaviors, education and jobs, the environment and quality of health care," says O'Leary. "We can improve a community's health through programs and policies. For example, people who live in communities with smoke-free laws are less likely to smoke or be exposed to second-hand smoke, which reduces lung cancer risk."

The release of the county health rankings will assist the county and community partners in the development and implementation of community wide programs that focus on improving the health of all Washington County residents.

The 2011 County Health Rankings is produced by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute. For a report on Washington County's standings, visit it's web page. For more detailed information on any of the counties in the rankings, visit http://www.countyhealthrankings.org/.

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