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The University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation recently released “County Health Rankings,” the first report to rank the overall health of the counties in all 50 states by using a standard formula to measure how healthy people are and how long they live.
"The health of a community depends on many factors, including individual behaviors, the quality of health care, education, jobs and the environment," said Health Commissioner Susan R. Cooper, MSN, RN. "While rankings like this can assist in seeing where the strengths and weaknesses are in a community, ultimately it takes all of us—public health, health care, business, education, and government sectors and individuals—to take steps and create programs and policies that will help people lead healthier lives."
Perry County ranked poorly in some categories, but did extremely well in one: physical environment.
Researchers used five measures to assess the level of overall health or “health outcomes” for the state by county: the rate of people dying before age 75; the percentage of people who report being in fair or poor health; the number of days people report being in poor physical health; the number of days people report being in poor mental health; and the rate of low-birthweight infants.
The report then looks at factors that affect people's health within four categories: health behavior, clinical care, social and economic factors, and physical environment. Among the many health factors included are rates of adult smoking, adult obesity, binge drinking, and teenage pregnancy; the number of uninsured adults, availability of primary care providers, and preventable hospital stays; rates of high school graduation, number of children in poverty, rates of violent crime, access to healthy foods, air pollution levels, and liquor store density.
Following are results for Perry County, and the rank among Tennessee’s 95 counties:
--Health outcomes: 69;
--Mortality: 81;
--Morbidity: 18;
--Health factors: 90;
--Health behaviors: 66;
--Clinical care: 95;
--Social and economic factors: 89;
--Physical environment: 4.
The County Health Rankings lists the following as Tennessee's top 10 for health outcomes, in order starting with best: Williamson, Sumner, Rutherford, Moore, Blount, Wilson, Franklin, Chester, Knox, and Montgomery.
Listed as the 10 counties with the poorest health outcomes were: Grundy, Fentress, Hardeman, Benton, Lewis, Hancock, Carroll, Cocke, Rhea, and Johnson.
Another recent report by Tennesseans for Fair Taxation looked at median incomes for the state’s counties.
The median income for Perry County was $33,179; sixteen counties in Tennessee had lower median incomes.
The report showed the wide discrepancy between counties in the state, ranging from a low of $23,526 in Hancock County, to a high in Williamson County of $93,166.
Perry County lagged behind the state average by more than $10,000. The Tennessee average median income was $43,610.
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