County Health Rankings: Using Data to Improve Community Health

GIH Webinar: County Health Rankings: Using Data to Improve Community Health 

When : March 25 at 2:30 p.m. Eastern / 1:30 p.m. Central / 12:30 p.m. Mountain /
            11:30 a.m. Pacific 
     
Who:   Brenda Henry, Program Officer, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation       
            Julie Willems Van Dijk, Community Engagement Lead, University of Wisconsin 
            Population Health Institute

What:   The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s (RWJF) County Health Rankings is the first set of reports to rank the health of every county in the nation.  A collaboration between RWJF and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute, the rankings show how counties measure up within each state in terms of how healthy people are; how long they live; and how important factors such as tobacco use, obesity, access to health care, education, community safety, and air quality affect their health.  

This Webinar is an opportunity for grantmakers to explore the County Health Rankings  program and resources, including an interactive Web site that compares each county’s overall health with other counties on a state-by-state basis.   

The event will also feature a discussion of ways in which foundations can use County Health Rankings  data to inform their own work and help improve the health of the communities they serve.  Key opportunities for grantmakers to engage with a variety of stakeholders to mobilize action will be identified.  

Two foundations will share how they used the Community Health Rankings to engage stakeholders in their own communities.  As part of its program to generate local conversation about public health, the Northwest Health Foundation provides grants for community dialogues, townhall meetings, and other gatherings.  With support from the foundation, the Oregon Public Health Institute led a discussion for legislators on the County Health Rankings.  The Kansas Health Foundation supported the collection of data through the Kansas Health Institute with a grant to oversample for the CDC's Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System.  The foundation is also using data from the County Health Raknings to make the case for public health regionalization in Kansas and preparing local health departments for accreditation.

RSVP:  To register for this Webinar, please e-mail Kiera Edwards at GIH no later than Wednesday, March 24. You will receive log-on information and   related resource materials a few days before the call.    

Please note that the Webinar is open only to GIH Funding Partners. While you should feel free to share this notice within your organization, please do not disseminate it to others.

Related Information

Webinar Slides (4428K) [download]