Report: Hancock County scores high on health outcomes | Health

Hancock County ranks tenth in the Commonweath in health outcomes, according to the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's annual report.  The fourth annual County Health Rankings, released this week, rank overall health for every county in all 50 states by using a standard formula to measure how healthy people are and how long they live.

Ohio County ranks 32nd and McLean County 57th.

Nationally, the data revealed that unhealthy counties have more than twice the rate of premature deaths than healthy ones and childhood poverty rates are twice as high in unhealthy counties. The Rankings allow counties to see how they compare to other counties within the state based on a range of factors that influence health including high school graduation rates, obesity, smoking, and family and social support. This year's Rankings include new measures, such as how many dentists are in a community per resident.

"Statewide, we know that we have major improvements to make in infant mortality, childhood immunizations, obesity and smoking," said State Health Commissioner William VanNess, M.D.

"The annual County Health Rankings provide us with an additional data set to show exactly where Indiana communities are struggling, as well as providing resources to assist them with their improvement plans."

The Rankings include a snapshot of each county in the state with a color-coded map comparing each county’s overall health ranking. There are also new county-level trend graphs detailing change over time for several of the measures, including children in poverty, unemployment and quality of care.

Click here to see the rankings and more in-depth data.