America’s Health Rankings ®
Senior Report: A Call to Action for
Individuals and Their Communities
May 29, 2012
Today’s Agenda
 Introduction
 Senior Health in the U.S.
 Methodology and Senior Health
Rankings
 What We Can Do
 Discussion
2
America’s Health Rankings® Senior Report
A Comprehensive Assessment of Senior Health

Offers a comprehensive analysis of senior health on a national and state-by-state basis across 34
measures of senior health

Report seeks to promote discussion around the health of Americans 65 years and older while
driving communities, governments, stakeholders and individuals to take action to improve senior
health

In compiling the report, researchers worked with a panel of leading public health scholars

Report draws data from more than 12 government agencies and leading research organizations,
including the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the U.S. Department of Commerce,
the U.S. Department of Labor, The Dartmouth Atlas Project, the National Foundation to End
Senior Hunger and the Commonwealth Fund
3
Senior Health in the United States
4
Key National Takeaways

Rapid growth of senior population (53 percent increase from 2015 to 2030)

The 2012 America’s Health Rankings® found Americans are living longer but sicker lives

About 80 percent of seniors are living with one chronic condition, while 50 percent of seniors have
at least two chronic conditions

More obese individuals moving into age group

Low health status of individuals moving into age group
– Nationally, the self-reported health status of the middle-aged population has decreased
slightly from 1995 to 2010, with 1.7 percent fewer adults aged 50 to 64 reporting very good or
excellent health
Senior Health Across the U.S.
The Senior Report takes a holistic look at senior health and reveals a mixed picture
of health from state-to-state, particularly among the following key measures:

Obesity:
– Obesity affects 25.3% of U.S. adults 65 and older, according to the Senior report
– Obesity rates among those aged 50 to 64 years increased 7.5 percent from 1995 to 2010,
indicating that the next wave of seniors is at even higher risk than today’s seniors for obesity
– A 2008 Health Affairs study estimated that the U.S. spends $147 billion on obesity or obesityrelated health issues for the entire U.S. population
– The prevalence of obesity among seniors varies from a low of 16.9 percent in Hawaii and
18.1 percent in Nevada to a high of 29.3 percent in Alaska and 29.5 percent in Michigan

Physical Inactivity:
– Just under one-third (30.3 percent) of seniors in fair or better health report doing no physical
activity or exercise (such as walking, gardening, jogging, calisthenics or golf)
– The prevalence of physical inactivity among seniors ranges from a low of 20.5 percent in
Colorado and 21.3 percent in California to a high of 41.2 percent in West Virginia and 41.3
percent in Tennessee
6
Senior Health Across the U.S., Cont.

Poverty
– The report finds that 9.3 percent of U.S. adults aged 65 and older live at or below the poverty
threshold
– The percentage of seniors living at or below the poverty threshold ranges from a low of 5.1
percent in Alaska and 6.2 percent in Utah to a high of 12.3 percent in New Mexico and 13.5
percent in Mississippi

Low-Care Nursing Home Residents
– This measure looks at the percentage of nursing home residents who might be able to live in
an alternate environment with community support
– The report finds that 12.2 percent of nursing home residents nationwide might be able to live
in an alternate environment
– The percentage of low-care nursing home residents ranges from a low of 1.1 percent of
nursing home residents in Maine and 4.7 percent in Hawaii to a high of 25.0 percent in
Oklahoma and 26.7 percent in Illinois
7
Report Contents and State Rankings
8
Model
Behaviors
-
Smoking
Chronic Drinking
Obesity
Underweight
Physical Inactivity
Dental Visits
Pain Management
Community – Macro
-
Poverty
Volunteerism
Highly Rated Nursing
Homes
Community – Micro
-
Social Support
Food Insecurity
Community Support
Policy
-
Low-Care Nursing
Home Residents
Creditable Drug
Coverage
Geriatrician Shortfall
Clinical Care
-
Dedicated Health Care
Worker
Recommended Hospital
Care
Flu Vaccine
Health Screenings
Diabetes Management
Home Health Care
Preventable
Hospitalizations
Hospital Readmissions
Hospice Care
Hospital Deaths
Outcomes
- ICU Usage
- Falls
- Hip Fractures
- Health Status
- Able-Bodied
- Premature Death
- Teeth Extractions
- Mental Health Days
9
Senior Rankings
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
Minnesota
Vermont
New Hampshire
Massachusetts
Iowa
Hawaii
Connecticut
Colorado
Utah
Maryland
North Dakota
Delaware
Maine
Nebraska
Oregon
Washington
Pennsylvania
Kansas
South Dakota
Wisconsin
Virginia
Arizona
New York
Idaho
California
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
Michigan
New Jersey
Ohio
North Carolina
Florida
Rhode Island
Indiana
Missouri
Wyoming
Montana
South Carolina
Illinois
New Mexico
Texas
Alaska
Tennessee
Nevada
Georgia
Alabama
Kentucky
Arkansas
West Virginia
Louisiana
Oklahoma
Mississippi
10
Commentaries

Senior Report – Working Together to Care for an Aging Nation
Jennie Chin Hansen, RN, MSN, FAAN, CEO of the American Geriatrics Society

Preparing for the Future as Millions of Baby Boomers Continue to Age
Gail Gibson Hunt, President and CEO, National Alliance for Caregiving

Rx for Health – Invest in America’s Senior Centers to Promote Health and Prevent
Disease
James Firman, EdD, President and CEO; Richard Birkel, PhD, Senior Vice
President, National Council on Aging

Senior Hunger: A National Problem, A Local Problem
Enid A. Borden, Founder, President and CEO; Margaret B. Ingraham, Executive Vice
President, National Foundation to End Senior Hunger

The Environment of Care: A Community’s Journey to Become America’s Healthiest
Hometown
Elliot Sussman, MD, MBA, Chairman; Joseph Hildner, MD, Chief Medical Officer, The
Villages Health; Stephen Klasko, MD, MBA, CEO, USF Health and Dean, Morsani
College of Medicine
11
State Summary
Ranks for
all metrics
Strengths and
Challenges
4 to 6 highlights
Disparities
discussion
12
Infographics
13
A Call to Action
14
How to Put the Rankings to Use

Use America’s Health Rankings® Senior Report as a news hook to discuss strengths/challenges
of your and other states and to highlight programs and activities geared toward seniors

Use the Rankings to help people understand the importance of key interventions

Help promote the America’s Health Rankings® “take action” library and your own websites and
programs to translate knowledge into action

Direct inquiries to resources on AmericasHealthRankings.org. These include PDF and e-book
versions of the Senior Report, state-specific infographics, custom-report tools, and Spanishlanguage content

Leverage successful models and advocate for change as individuals, a community and public
health professionals

United Health Foundation is committed to being a part of the solution, providing a full array of
tools to help empower your missions to improve public health
15
Thank You!
Contact Us:
Shelly Espinosa (general)
shelly_espinosa@uhg.com
952-936-1889
Scott Weier (media)
sweier@gpgdc.com
202-295-0170
Sarah Milder (data)
sarah@arundelstreet.com
651-222-6782
Tom Eckstein (data)
tom@arundelstreet.com
651-222-5257
Learn More:
americashealthrankings.org
/AmericasHealthRankings
@AHR_Rankings
@DrReedTuckson
16