Dane County ranks as the 10th healthiest county in Wisconsin, according to a University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute report released last week.
The Population Health Institute, as a part of the UW School of Medicine and Public Health, addresses a broad range of public health problems in the state in the report. For this year, the institute collaborated with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to provide information on the entire health of communities in every county for each state in the country.
Ozaukee County was reported to be the healthiest county in the state, while Menominee County is the least healthy.
Julie Willems Van Dijk, associate scientist with the Population Heath Institute, said the county health rankings study differs from other studies because it focus on the quality of care in medical offices.
“This study provides people [with the ability] to see the entire health of their community in comparison to their neighbors. Residents can see what people are dying from, health outcomes and factors, so that they could influence to improve future [health],” Willems Van Dijk said.
Each county report is divided into heath outcomes and health factors. The health factors in the report represent what influences the health of a county. The measures include mortality, teen pregnancy, crime rates, education, access to primary care and high-quality foods and air pollution levels.
The same study model had been used to rank the health of counties in Wisconsin for the past six years.
For the 2010 County Health Rankings, however, the institute used different models to compose the report for more than 3,000 counties in all 50 states.
Dane County ranked second in health behaviors and fourth in socio-economic factors out of 72 counties in the state, while it dropped to 61 for physical environment factors due to air pollution levels.
Nevertheless, Willems Van Dijk explained Dane County has many positive indicators to protect against chronic diseases and other unhealthy factors overall.
Local public health organizations welcomed the findings presented within the report. David Smith, interim executive director at South Madison Health and Family center, said the County Health Rankings support the belief that Dane County is really a good place to live in the country.
“We would like to see numbers in comparison to our neighbors and contemporaries that show our living conditions have improved, and efforts are actually working,” Smith said.
Jeff Golden, spokesperson for Public Health Madison and Dane County, said the report shows the importance of building social capital for a healthy community. He explained that encouraging community activities could also increase the quality of life in neighborhoods.
Golden agreed with Willems Van Dijk’s hope that the rankings can encourage community members to mobilize to improve future health.
“Where you live does matter for your health,” Golden added.
