Report: Tuscarawas County does well on health outcomes, needs improvement in other areas
DOVER ‒ A new report on county health rankings has both good news and bad news for Tuscarawas County.
The county fares better than others in Ohio and the United States in health outcomes, but is worse in the category of health factors, which represent those things that people can improve upon to live longer and healthier lives.
The annual County Health Rankings and Roadmaps (CHR&R) National Findings Report was recently released by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute.
This annual CHR&R data release provides a snapshot of the health of nearly every county in the nation and is a call to action for leaders and community members to better understand health in communities and make informed decisions to develop evidence-based programs, so everyone has the opportunity to thrive. The rankings measure more than 80 health factors such as obesity rates, smoking, unemployment, air and water quality, teen births and income inequality.
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Results from the report
The report found that Tuscarawas County is doing better than the average county in Ohio and in the United States for health outcomes, such as how long people live and how healthy people feel. The average life expectancy in Tuscarawas County is 75.3 years, and the leading causes of death for county residents under age 75 between 2019-2021 were listed as cancer, diseases of the heart, COVID-19, accidents and diabetes.
But the county fares worse on health factors. Health factors are indicators of the future health of communities. These health factors include data on health behaviors, clinical care, social and economic factors and physical environment.
The report identified the following health factors as improvement opportunities in the county ‒ adult smoking and adult obesity rates, which were both higher than the average for Ohio and the U.S. The need for more primary care physicians was also highlighted by the report since Tuscarawas County averages only one primary care physician per every 2,800 residents, compared to one primary care physician per every 1,330 residents for Ohio as a whole.
“Every community can identify ways to improve health for all, and our county is no different in that respect,” said Katie Seward, Tuscarawas County health commissioner. “While we are encouraged to see our county ranked higher than average for health outcomes, we know that work must be accomplished to improve our county’s health factors. Progress towards better health and positive lifestyle change takes time, and we at the Tuscarawas County Health Department are committed to continuing to work with our partners and collaborative coalitions such as Healthy Tusc to drive future improvements.”
This article originally appeared on The Times-Reporter: Report on health rankings has good, bad news for Tuscarawas County
