By Crystal D. Swann
April 11, 2011

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin released the 2011 County Health Rankings on March 30, the second annual set of reports to rank the overall health of counties in all 50 states. The rankings provide U.S. counties with a useful tool for stimulating health improvement nationwide.

Nearly every county in the country is ranked on health outcomes (how healthy we are) and on health factors (how healthy we can be). Examples of specific measures used to calculate rankings include: adult smoking, obesity, binge drinking, access to primary care providers, rates of high school graduation, rates of violent crime, air pollution levels, unemployment rates and number of children living in poverty. This information helps counties see where they are doing well and where they are not, so they can make changes to improve health.

Rankings highlight the need for people and organizations from all sectors of each county—public, private, educational, non-profit, media or philanthropic—to work deliberately and collaboratively to improve the public's health through policies, programs, and services.

Rankings, available online at www.countyhealthrankings.org, includes a snapshot of each county, and a color-coded map to allow users to compare each county's overall health ranking within its state.

County Health Rankings is a “call to action” for communities to work together to develop programs and policies that help people lead healthier lives. The Rankings are a key component of the Mobilizing Action Toward Community Health (MATCH) project, a collaboration between the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute. Now, a new funding opportunity from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the MATCH Community Grants Program, will help counties translate the Rankings into action.

Under this new MATCH initiative, the Foundation is releasing a call for proposals (CFP) that will provide funds for up to 14 communities to implement tangible, measureable health improvements. Grantees will receive awards up to $200,000 for up to 24 months to implement their proposed policy or systems change strategy. The Foundation's CFP was released March 30. The grants will be announced in early September.

For more information, or to apply, visit the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation website at www.rwjf.org beginning March 30.