by Reed Tuckson, M.D., and Rhonda Randall, D.O., 05/28/2013
We are proud to announce that today marks the launch of United Health Foundation’s first-ever America’s Health Rankings® Senior Report.
The report provides a comprehensive analysis of senior population health rankings on both national and state levels, and it comes at a critical time. Americans are living longer but sicker lives, and America’s senior population is poised to grow 53 percent between 2015 and 2030. United Health Foundation sees this as our time to call for individuals, families, communities and organizations to take action to improve senior health and well-being.
The 2013 report shows that Minnesota leads the nation in state senior health rankings, followed by Vermont (2), New Hampshire (3), Massachusetts (4) and Iowa (5). The five states with the most challenges for senior health are Mississippi (50), followed by Oklahoma (49), Louisiana (48), West Virginia (47) and Arkansas (46).
While we know everyone’s first question is where their state ranks, we want to emphasize that the United Health Foundation commissioned this report not to see who was “winning” or “losing” but to examine the health challenges affecting today’s seniors while driving a conversation about how to take action to improve senior health.
As always, we want to provide you with the tools to take this action. Just as with our annual report, the America’s Health Rankings Senior Report includes commentaries that illustrate the complexities of senior health while providing examples of how senior health can be improved on the community level, as well as through broader initiatives.