How Healthy is Your County? 2013 Rankings Released March 20
Are you ready? The 2013 County Health Rankings will be released on March 20, 2013. Now for the fourth year in a row, counties can see a snapshot of how healthy their residents are by comparing their overall health and the factors that influence their health with other counties in their state. This allows communities to see county-by-county where they are doing well and where they need to improve.
This year’s Rankings include several new features such as new measures, including access to dental care and drinking water safety; new trend graphs – we now have county-level trend graphs showing progress over time for eight of our measures; and direct access from the data to information about what works to improve health.
Here is a quick list of things you may want to add to your preparation checklist for the 2013 County Health Rankings release:
- Sign up for one of our webinars to learn more about the County Health Rankings. View the schedule of upcoming webinars and view our archived webinars.
- Determine key messages regarding the County Health Rankings for your community. What are the some known health concerns in your community? What are some of your strengths?
- Identify your local media point of contact if you plan to write an op-ed about your county’s ranking or work you’re doing to improve community health.
- Identify key local stakeholders that are or will be engaged in improving the health of your community. Remember to think beyond public health - think about hospitals, education, community non-profits, local elected officials, and the business community. Let them know about the upcoming County Health Rankings release.
- Develop specific next steps after the release of the Rankings for your community. What will you do to mobilize action toward community health in your area?
