142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition

Annual Meeting Recordings are now available for purchase

312565
SESSION ABSTRACT – America's Health Rankings Senior Report: Measuring the State of Senior Health

142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition (November 15 - November 19, 2014): http://www.apha.org/events-and-meetings/annual
Wednesday, November 19, 2014 : 10:30 AM - 10:35 AM

Sarah Milder, MPH , Arundel Street Consulting, Saint Paul, MN
Anna Schenck, PhD, MSPH , Public Health Leadership Program, University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health, Chapel Hill, NC
Benjamin Kofoed , Division of Health Policy & Management, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN
Becky Spitzer , Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC
Tom Eckstein, MBA , Arundel Street Consulting, St. Paul, MN
Rationale

The goal of America’s Health Rankings Senior Report is to create widespread awareness of where states stand on important public health measures with the hopes that improved awareness will encourage communities, governments, individuals, and other organizations to learn how to take action to improve the health of our current and future seniors. America’s Health Ranking Senior Report includes more than 30 health measures, including both determinants and outcomes of health.

In this session, we will explore the associations between health behaviors and health status, preventable hospitalization, and premature death. We will touch on end of life care through the variation in hospital death rates and hospice enrollment by state. The relationship between community and environment measures and preventable hospitalization and premature death will be described. By communicating state-level patterns in health determinants, and the health outcomes, health status and premature death, we hope to help states identify potential areas to intervene to improve the health of their senior population and their state.

Papers: 

  1. Smoking, physical inactivity, and obesity among seniors: Geographic variation and their association with health status  (Paper #311613)
  2. State Level Variation in hospital death rates and hospice utilization (Paper #309422)
  3. Influences of health behaviors and community characteristics on preventable hospitalizations among seniors (Paper #311417)
  4. Geographic variation and correlates of premature mortality among seniors (Paper #309888)

Learning Areas:

Epidemiology
Public health or related research

Learning Objectives:
Identify potential areas for states to intervene to improve the health of their senior population.

Keyword(s): Aging, Health Promotion and Education

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have co-authored America's Health Rankings since 2011 and was part of the team that developed the first America's Health Ranking Senior Report in 2013. I have a MPH in maternal and child health epidemiology from the University of Minnesota.
Any relevant financial relationships? Yes

Name of Organization Clinical/Research Area Type of relationship
United Health Foundation Population Health Independent Contractor (contracted research and clinical trials)

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.