HealthLinks Charleston Nov/Dec 2022

72 | www. Char l es tonPhys i c i ans . com | www.Hea l thL i nksChar l es ton . com South Carolina recently got a report on its overall health for 2021, and, based on the findings, the state is only a breath away from hitting rock bottom. In their third consecutive year of researching all 50 U.S. states to determine its annual Community Well-Being Index, digital health company Sharecare and the Boston University School of Public Health placed South Carolina at No. 40 – identical to its 2020 rank but four notches down from 2019. To move even a few places higher for 2022 and 2023, the state will need improvement in nearly every health category. “South Carolina is only one notch away from being in the bottom tier among all 50 states,” said Dr. Michael Rickles, vice president of research with Sharecare. “And there are a number of areas where the state can improve.” For example, of the 10 domains researched to determine the health rankings for each state, South Carolina’s only high score came in resource access. But the state placed near the bottom in housing and transportation, and economic security, as well as in the financial, physical, social and community well-being areas. In the domain of food access, the state was dead last, along with New Hampshire, Maine, Alabama and seven others. “The state’s food access score is 10 points below the national average and ranked in the bottom six for the domain,” Dr. Rickles said. “Food access is important for mitigating against health risks and chronic conditions like obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, anxiety and depression, joint pain and fatigue.” For South Carolina’s health to improve in just this one domain, Rickles offered the following suggestions for state and local officials, civic and nonprofit groups, business leaders and individuals: • Collaborate with local partners to provide transportation to healthy food venues during work hours. • Sponsor mobile food markets or farmers markets. • Explore employer-sponsored incentive programs that tap into retailers present in areas with the lowest levels of healthy food access. • Provide healthy on-site options in locations where food access is below average. • Implement ways to improve access to fitness programs and low-cost health screenings, and work with groups inside these communities to sponsor local activities and “lift the state up as a whole.” “Individuals can also contribute to or start community gardens,” Dr. Rickles said. “This would not only help improve the state’s community rank, which is South Carolina’s second lowest domain, it would most importantly contribute to individual well-being.” Charleston Mayor John Tecklenburg added that going forward, successful public health initiatives in South Carolina STATE HEALTH INDEX NEARS ROCK BOTTOM By L. C. Leach III

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