What Do We Know About the Drivers of Health and Equity? A Narrative Review of Graphic Representations.

Frameworks can be influential tools for advancing health and equity, guiding population health researchers and practitioners. We reviewed frameworks with graphic representations that address the drivers of both health and equity. Our purpose was to summarize and discuss graphic representations of population health and equity and their implications for research and practice.

Assessment of Factors Contributing to Health Outcomes in the Eight States of the Mississippi Delta Region.

Introduction: The objective of this observational study was to examine the key contributors to health outcomes and to better understand the health disparities between Delta and non-Delta counties in 8 states in the Mississippi River Delta Region. We hypothesized that a unique set of contributors to health outcomes in the Delta counties could explain the disparities between Delta and non-Delta counties.

Methods: Data were from the 2014 County Health Rankings for counties in 8 states (Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, and Tennessee).

Relative Contributions of a Set of Health Factors to Selected Health Outcomes.

Although many researchers agree that multiple determinants impact health, there is no consensus regarding the magnitude of the relative contributions of individual health factors to health outcomes. This study presents a method to empirically estimate the relative contributions of health behaviors, clinical care, social and economic factors, and the physical environment to health outcomes using nationally representative county-level data and statistical approaches that account for potential sources of bias. The analyses for this study were conducted in 2014.

County Health Rankings: Relationships Between Determinant Factors and Health Outcomes.

Introduction: The County Health Rankings (CHR) provides data for nearly every county in the U.S. on four modifiable groups of health factors, including healthy behaviors, clinical care, physical environment, and socioeconomic conditions, and on health outcomes such as length and quality of life.

The County Health Rankings: rationale and methods.

Background: Annually since 2010, the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation have produced the County Health Rankings-a "population health checkup" for the nation's over 3,000 counties. The purpose of this paper is to review the background and rationale for the Rankings, explain in detail the methods we use to create the health rankings in each state, and discuss the strengths and limitations associated with ranking the health of communities.

Methods: We base the Rankings on a conceptual model of population health that includes both health outcomes (mortality and morbidity) and health factors (health behaviors, clinical care, social and economic factors, and the physical environment).

Monitoring progress in population health: trends in premature death rates.

Introduction: Trends in population health outcomes can be monitored to evaluate the performance of population health systems at the national, state, and local levels. The objective of this study was to compare and contrast 4 measures for assessing progress in population health improvement by using age-adjusted premature death rates as a summary measure of the overall health outcomes in the United States and in all 50 states.

Methods: To evaluate the performance of statewide population health systems during the past 20 years, we used 4 measures of age-adjusted premature (<75 years of age) death rates: current rates (2009), baseline trends (1990s), follow-up trends (2000s), and changes in trends from baseline to the follow-up periods (ie, "bending the curve").

Using empirical Bayes methods to rank counties on population health measures.

University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute has published County Health Rankings (The Rankings) since 2010. These rankings use population-based data to highlight variation in health and encourage health assessment for all US counties. However, the uncertainty of estimates remains a limitation.