At the American Public Health Association (APHA), our mission remains as clear as it is vital: to improve the health of the public and achieve optimal health for all. Today, we are in an exciting period of progress in many ways, with real advancements in understanding and addressing the social drivers of health as well as mental health and environmental factors. As a nation, we are increasingly embracing evidence-based strategies in a proactive manner to address these issues via their upstream root causes. Yet, despite this momentum, many health outcomes are still moving in the wrong direction — signifying a need for stronger investments to these preventive approaches.
The America’s Health Rankings platform has been an indispensable tool for public health leaders throughout this journey, equipping us with reliable, actionable insights across the many facets of health. We can see in these data where we are making progress and where gaps remain — including through our growing ability to break down data and analyze disparities by race/ethnicity, age, gender, geography and other factors.
We know that public health will continue to evolve just as it has over the past three and a half decades. We will continue to examine long-term trends, short-term changes and disparities that America’s Health Rankings has tracked. We also know that new challenges are emerging, and we must continue harnessing the power of data to understand and address these issues at the state and national levels. This will require us to continue evolving our conception of health and well-being to go beyond just health care. True health means understanding and addressing the unique needs of each community, beyond the walls of clinics and hospitals. Data, such as America’s Health Rankings, will help us to align resources with these needs and create a future where all Americans have the opportunity to live healthier, more fulfilling lives.