Skip to main content

Boreal Community Media

Report links poverty and poor health

Mar 14, 2018 11:00AM ● By Editor
By John Lundy of the Duluth News Tribune - March 14, 2018

The Ely family was living on the sofas in various relatives' homes for a period of several months.  It only made it harder for them to care for their young son, who has disabilities.

"They were ... feeling overwhelmed with the prospects of trying to care for him ... (and) he just wasn't doing as well," said Heidi Favet, leader of the Ely Area Community Care Team.

The family's difficulties underscore the conclusion that emerges from an annual county-by-county ranking of population health: Poverty increases the chances that people will experience poor health.

"We can't be a healthy, thriving nation if we continue to leave entire communities and populations behind," said Dr. Richard Besser, president of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, in a news release accompanying the annual County Health Rankings and Roadmaps.

The report, collecting a large number of health and socioeconomic statistics for every county in the nation, is produced by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation along with the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute.

The data show the correlation. In Minnesota, for example, a measure of what the report calls "health outcomes" shows Carver County as the healthiest in the state, and Mahnomen County as the least healthy. Those two counties have child poverty rates of 4 percent and 30 percent, respectively.

St. Louis County, which ranks 74th for health outcomes among the state's 87 counties, has a child poverty rate of 17 percent — below the national average of 20 percent but higher than the state average of 13 percent.

All Northeastern Minnesota counties are in the bottom 20 percent for health outcomes, ranging from 71st for Lake County to 82nd for Cook County.

To read the entire article on The Duluth News Tribune - follow this link.

https://www.duluthnewstribune.com/business/healthcare/4417169-report-links-poverty-and-poor-health

Boreal Ship Spotter - larger view here