Introduction

Amid the current COVID-19 pandemic, we understand that public health needs are rapidly changing as states across the country work to keep Americans safe. Older adults and people of all ages with severe underlying medical conditions are at greater risk of severe complications from COVID-19. The United Health Foundation is committed to equipping health leaders with data that will help inform their priorities and decisions as they manage all public health activities during this unprecedented time.

This year, America’s Health Rankings Senior Data 2020 Update reveals a new America’s Health Rankings model. The new model reflects the growing understanding of the impact of social determinants on health and the need for cross-sector collaboration from fields such as agriculture, economy, education, housing, justice and transportation, to improve health outcomes and population health.

The new model includes 44 measures of senior health to provide key stakeholders with access to the latest data and trends at the state and national level with 18 new measures, including multiple chronic conditions, pneumonia vaccination and risk of social isolation. See Measures Selection and Changes for a detailed description of measure changes made in 2020.

All 44 measures are available in the State Summaries and in the Explore Data section where you can learn about the importance of each measure; find the measure definition, source and data year; examine trends; and see the data stratified by age, gender, race/ethnicity, education and income where available. We encourage policy-makers and the public to use the data to provide context regarding senior health and existing health disparities.

The COVID-19 pandemic may increase feelings of social isolation. To raise the importance of the risk of social isolation, this release includes county-level risk of social isolation maps for each state, available in the State Summaries.

An added feature to the website this year allows users to compare related health measures in one place using our library of health topics, currently featuring COVID-19 underlying conditions and risk factors.