To build a healthier Arkansas, start with better data |
Arkansas' health challenges are not a matter of perception. They are visible in the numbers.
In the latest America's Health Rankings annual report, Arkansas ranked 49th overall among the states. On premature death, Arkansas ranked 43rd, with over 11,000 years of potential life lost per 100,000 people before age 75. Behind those numbers are real people: individuals managing chronic disease, families grieving preventable losses, and communities who deserve better.
These rankings are obviously concerning, but they are not new. For years, Arkansas has struggled with poor health outcomes, and for years, organizations across the state have worked hard to change that. Hospitals, nonprofits, public health agencies, foundations, researchers, and community leaders have invested real time and energy into improving health and expanding access to care.
Communities working to improve health across Arkansas have never lacked commitment. What they have too often lacked is precise, timely information they can use with confidence.
Arkansas has important statewide and county-level health data, but those data do not always give communities what they need most: timely, fine-grained information they need to act........