Transylvania County In Top 20 For Health in the State of NC
Transylvania is ranked in the top 20, according to the 2010 County Health Rankings, which look at the overall health of North Carolina’s100 counties.
The counties received two rankings: health outcomes, which represent how healthy a county is, and health factors, which looks at what influences a county’s health.
Transylvania was ranked 17th under health outcomes and sixth under health factors.
The health outcomes ranking is based on mortality (the length of life) and morbidity (health-related quality of life and birth outcomes).
Health factors take into account several areas, including education, income, tobacco use, community safety, diet and exercise, and access to health care and its quality.
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute calculated the rankings for each state.
The goal is to provide counties with a snapshot of their overall health and how they compare with other counties.
Buncombe County was ranked 25th for health outcomes and ranked third for health factors. Henderson County was ranked 33rd for outcomes and fifth for factors. Jackson County was ranked 12th for outcomes and 31st for factors. Haywood County was ranked 56th for outcomes and 19th for factors.
Closer Look
Under health outcomes in the mortality rankings, Transylvania came in at 28, while in the morbidity rankings the county was ranked at 13.
Health factors took into account four areas, with each county being given a ranking, as well:
• Health behaviors — smoking, diet and exercise, alcohol use and risky sex behavior. Transylvania’s ranking was 17th.
• Clinical care — access to care and its quality. Transylvania was ranked 4th.
• Social and economic factors — education, employment, income, family and social support, and community safety. Transylvania was ranked 4th.
• Physical environment — environmental quality and built environment.
Transylvania was ranked 79th. This ranking is based on air quality measures, such as unhealthy air due to ozone and particulate matter.
The built environment corresponds to access to health foods and the number of liquor stores.
Article Courtesy of the Transylvania Times
newspost586-transylvania-county-in-top-20-for-health-in-the-st.aspxPosted on 3/10/2010 2:56:26 PM
