Kentucky's seniors rank 48th in insurance firm's health rankings

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Kentucky seniors ranked in the bottom 10 states for 23 of the 35 measures ranked by the 2015 America's Health Ranking Seniors Report, placing Kentucky in 48th place for the second year in a row.

“The report is a call to action. We believe you can’t improve what you don’t measure,” Dr. Julie Daftari, market medical director for United Health Care of Kentucky told Alyssa Harvey of the Bowling Green Daily News. “It may start with seniors taking individual action. If we live long enough, we’ll be part of these statistics in the future."

Kentucky seniors ranked last in two areas, total health outcomes and preventable hospitalizations; next to last in premature deaths and education and in the bottom three states for smoking, seniors who are considered underweight, and poor mental health days.

The report notes that smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in the U.S. and "older smokers are at an increased risk of smoking-related illness as they tend to be heavy smokers with an average smoking duration of 40 years" and "are less likely than younger smokers to believe that smoking harms their health." Kentucky, with 11.8 percent of its seniors regularly smoking, ranked third highest in senior smoking, behind Nevada and Mississippi.

The report is intended to point out the health challenges facing today's seniors and offer a starting point to help states determine what needs to change. That being said, Kentucky ranks very low in an area that could help improve these outcomes: community support, where it ranks 45th.

The report did say that Kentucky seniors do have some strengths. They have a low prevalence of chronic drinking, low percentage of adults needing pain management, high flu vaccination coverage and a low percentage of low-care nursing home residents.

More Kentucky seniors also reported very good or excellent health since last year's report, up to 33.7 percent from 31.2 percent.

The report noted that a decrease in physical inactivity is a nationwide problem for seniors, with 33.1 percent of seniors nationwide reporting they did not get enough physical activity. This percentage was even higher in Kentucky at 40.2 percent, which is higher than the previous two years (34.5 percent in 2014 and 17 percent in 2013).

The report notes that today, one in seven Americans are aged 65 and older, and in the next two decades the rest of the 77 million baby boomers will move into this demographic. The report also projected the increase in Kentucky's senior population between 2015 to 2030 will be 41.8 percent.

“The fact that we were able to identify key strengths and challenges gives Kentucky an opportunity to address those specific issues,” Daftari told Harvey. “If these challenges aren’t addressed, there may be a significant strain on health care in the future.”

The rankings were based on 35 measures of senior health including behavior determinants like smoking and dental visits; micro and macro community and environmental determinants like poverty and social support; policy issues like percentage of seniors on SNAP; and measures of clinical care like the percentage of seniors who receive home health.; and outcomes like the percentage of seniors who have fallen. It also included measures like education and cognition.

Proposals sought for research of Appalachian 'bright spots' where health is better than socioeconomic factors would indicate

A three-year research project to determine factors that can support a culture of health in Appalachia and whether that knowledge can be translated into actions that address the region's health disparities has released its Request for Proposal to invite proposals from qualified research teams and consultants who would like to work on this project.

The project,“Creating a Culture of Health in Appalachia: Disparities and Bright Spots,” is sponsored by the Appalachian Regional Commission, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky and will run through the end of 2017.

The research for this project will identify Appalachian “bright spots,” where health outcomes are better than would be expected based on unemployment and poverty rates and other community factors, and try to figure out why. Researchesr will also try to determine why health outcomes in some communities are not as good as would be expected.

The request for proposals offers detailed guidelines for submissions, which are due June 8. Applicants are encouraged to register for a webinar, detailed on the RFP, to be held May 7 at 10 a.m. EDT. Click here for more information.

Johnson foundation, Appalachian commission, Foundation for a Healthy Ky. to examine bright and dark spots in Appalachia

The Appalachian Regional Commission, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky are working on a three-year health-research project to determine factors that can support a culture of health in Appalachia and whether that knowledge can be translated into actions that address the region's health disparities.

“Creating a Culture of Health in Appalachia: Disparities and Bright Spots,” will run through the end of 2017. The project will identify “bright spots” where health outcomes are better than indicated by unemployment, poverty rates and other community factors. Experts will try to figure out why, and will likewise examine why health outcomes in some communities are not as good as would be expected. 

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is providing $750,000 for the project, and ARC will contribute $250,000. The Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky will administer the project.

“This groundbreaking effort will provide a deeper understanding of factors that contribute to or undermine community health,” said Susan Zepeda, president and CEO of the foundation.

The project will produce a database with county-level health and economic data; hold discussions with local leaders to help explain the findings; develop policy-based user tools, including a Web site featuring data sets and a GIS-based tool to help visualize research outcomes and community profiles; and examine policy implications and make recommendations.

Kentucky drops two spots in America's Health Rankings, based on data since 2012 or earlier

Kentucky dropped two spots in the 25th annual America's Health Rankings report this year and finds itself once again as one of the bottom five healthiest (or unhealthiest) states.

Since the rankings were first released in 1990, with the exception of 2008 when it ranked 39th, Kentucky has ranked in the bottom 10 states for health. This year it ranks 47th.

The rankings are based on data gathered in the last two to three years, or even earlier, a fact state officials noted as they mentioned the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

"While we have made much headway in the last year, we still have much work to do," said a statement from the Cabinet for Health and Family Services. "We expect that Kentucky’s statistics will begin to improve over time as the full effect of the ACA is reflected in future rankings. However, this change may take time, as Kentucky will be compared to other states that may more quickly see their health outcomes improve.”

Gov. Steve Beshear has made changing health behaviors to create a healthier population a priority for the state. He initiated the Kyhealthnow initiative, which established seven major measurable goals to improve the health status of Kentuckians over the next five years. He has also banned the use of tobacco products on most state properties.

Kentucky's latest ranking should come as no surprise since the state ranks in the bottom five states for eight of the measures: smoking, drug deaths, obesity, children in poverty, preventable hospitalizations, poor mental health days, poor physical health days and cancer deaths. Additionally, it ranks in the bottom 10 states for physical inactivity, air pollution, cardiovascular deaths and premature deaths.

Kentucky has already shown an improvement in smoking. While Kentucky still ranks second in smoking, fewer Kentuckians are smoking. In the past two years, smoking has decreased by 9 percent to 26.5 percent from 29 percent. In 1990, 35.3 percent of Kentuckians smoked.

"The decline in smoking rates stands out as a significant health improvement over the past 25 years," says the American Health Rankings news release. "Cigarette smoking is still associated with one of every five deaths in the United States, making it the leading cause of preventable death in the country."

Kentucky, like the rest of the nation, is getting fatter and becoming more sedentary.

Kentucky ranks fifth in obesity, with 33.2 percent of its adults having a body mass index of 30.0 or higher. In 1990, only 12.2 percent were obese. Kentucky doesn't fare much better with physical inactivity, ranking ninth with 27.4 percent reporting inactivity in the last 30 days.

Nationwide, obesity rates increased by 7 percent to 29.4 percent from 27.6 percent and the percentage of adults reporting inactivity in the last 30 days increased to 23.5 percent from 22.9 percent.

Kentucky has also seen a steady increase in the percentage of its adults with diabetes. Kentucky ranks 33rd in diabetes, with 10.6 percent of its adults reporting they have been told by a doctor that they have diabetes. In 1996, 3.6 percent of Kentuckians reported having diabetes.

Drug deaths have increased by 30 percent in the last two years, to 24 per 100,000 population from 18. Kentucky ranks third in this measurement.

Kentucky ranks first in four measures: children in poverty (31.8 percent), preventable hospitalizations (94.4 per 1,000 Medicare beneficiaries), poor mental health days (4.5 days reported in the previous 30 days), and cancer deaths (228.3 deaths per 100,000 population).

The number of children in poverty has increased by 36 percent in the past two years (31.8 percent from 23.3 percent).

Kentucky does have a few bright spots on the evaluated health measures including a low prevalence of binge drinking, a low violent crime rate and high immunization coverage among children.

Hawaii, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Utah are ranked as the top five healthiest states. Mississippi is ranked 50th this year, preceded by Arkansas (49), Louisiana (48), Kentucky (47) and Oklahoma (46). West Virginia and Alabama moved out of the bottom five.

The report, published by United Health Foundation in partnership with American Public Health Association and Partnership for Prevention, uses data from well-recognized outside sources, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, American Medical Association, FBI, Dartmouth Atlas Project, U.S. Department of Education and Census Bureau.

To see the Rankings in full, visit www.americashealthrankings.org.