US opinions on health determinants and social policy as health policy.

To examine what factors the public thinks are important determinants of health and whether social policy is viewed as health policy, we conducted a national telephone survey of 2791 US adults from November 2008 through February 2009. Respondents said that health behaviors and access to health care have very strong effects on health; they were less likely to report a very strong role for other social and economic factors. Respondents who recognized a stronger role for social determinants of health and who saw social policy as health policy were more likely to be older, women, non-White, and liberal, and to have less education, lower income, and fair/poor health.

Awareness of racial and socioeconomic health disparities in the United States: the national opinion survey on health and health disparities, 2008-2009.

Introduction: Recent initiatives aim to improve public awareness of health disparities. However, little research has actually documented the US public's awareness of racial/ethnic and socioeconomic health disparities. We sought to determine 1) whether the US public is aware of racial, educational, and income disparities in health, 2) whether awareness differs across these disparity domains, and 3) what respondent characteristics are associated with awareness of racial, educational, and income disparities in health.

Grading and reporting health and health disparities.

Report cards are widely used in health for drawing attention to performance indicators. We developed a state health report card with separate grades for health and health disparities to generate interest in and awareness of differences in health across different population subgroups and to identify opportunities to improve health. We established grading curves from data for all 50 states for 2 outcomes (mortality and unhealthy days) and 4 life stages (infants, children and young adults, working-age adults, and older adults).

Dissemination research: the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute.

Despite significant accomplishments in basic, clinical, and population health research, a wide gap persists between research discoveries (ie, what we know) and actual practice (ie, what we do). The University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute (Institute) researchers study the process and outcomes of disseminating evidence-based public health programs and policies into practice. This paper briefly describes the approach and experience of the Institute's programs in population health assessment, health policy, program evaluation, and education and training.

Using the Wisconsin County Health Rankings to catalyze community health improvement.

Background: Assessment is a core function of public health; however, standard community health assessments often remain within the boundaries of the traditional public health system and rarely elicit public discussion and community-wide action. The University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute developed the annual Wisconsin County Health Rankings (Rankings) report in 2003 with three primary goals: (1) to increase media attention to local health outcomes and determinants; (2) to highlight the broad range of factors that influence health; and (3) to catalyze community health improvement efforts.

Methods: We assessed how well the Rankings met these goals through an examination of media coverage and a survey of the local public health community following the 2006 report.

Public views on determinants of health, interventions to improve health, and priorities for government.

Objective: There is increasing evidence about the importance of factors that impact health beyond health care and individual behavior, yet there is little public and policy discourse about these things in the United States. We surveyed Wisconsin adults to see what they think are the most important factors that affect health. We also examined which interventions they believe would improve health, and whether government should prioritize such interventions.

Local public health department funding: trends over time and relationship to health outcomes.

Background: Local health departments contribute to population health improvement through the core functions of assessment, policy development, and assurance. Their capacity to perform these functions may be affected by funding and staffing.

Objective: To describe local health department funding and staffing levels and determine the relationship between these measures and county-level health outcomes.

Preventable causes of death in Wisconsin, 2004.

Introduction: While heart disease, cancer, and injuries are leading proximate causes of death, research has demonstrated that about half of all deaths in the United States are actually due to preventable causes, including tobacco use, poor diet, and physical inactivity. Using state vital statistics data and findings from national studies, we report on the trends in the preventable causes of death in Wisconsin from 1992 to 2004.

Methods: The leading proximate causes of death in Wisconsin were obtained from Wisconsin Interactive Statistics on Health (WISH) data derived from individual death certificates.

Impact of Medicare managed care market withdrawal on beneficiaries.

The 2001 Survey of Involuntary Disenrollees was conducted to investigate the impact of Medicare+Choice (M+C) plan withdrawals on Medicare beneficiaries. Eighty-four percent of a total of 4,732 beneficiaries whose Medicare managed care (MMC) plan stopped serving them at the end of 2000 responded to the survey. Their responses indicated that the withdrawal of plans from Medicare affected beneficiaries in terms of concerns about getting and paying for care, increased payments for premiums and out-of-pocket costs, and changes in health care arrangements.