Data put state 46th in totality of health

Carolyne Park

Officials skeptical that index helpful

LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas ranks 46th in the nation in a new report meant to measure Americans’ overall well-being.

The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index uses data from 1,000 random, daily telephone surveys by about 250 Gallup interviewers to gauge the nation’s day-to-day well-being, officials with the global opinion research company said.

The project features surveys seven days a week - except for major holidays - for the next 25 years. The national index is updated daily on a rolling threeday average. Reports on all 50 states will be released twice a year, and reports on the country’s 435 congressional districts will be updated annually.

Arkansas officials said it’s an ambitious undertaking, but they’re withholding judgment on how valuable the index will be for health-care officials and policy makers.

There’s always a potential for distortion when data are updated so frequently, said Kevin Ryan, executive associate the with Arkansas Center for Healthcare Improvement.

“Something that’s reported that often has the potential to create a very rapid - almost too rapid - response reaction,” Ryan said. “Until we get a little better feel for how accurate it is and whether it’s too reactive, I’m not yet ready to say how valuable and useful it will be.”

Upon reviewing the index, Arkansas Department of Health officials found the data to be “pretty subjective,” department spokesman Ed Barham said.

“We’re not coming up with a lot that we can sink our teeth into,” he said.

The index is a joint effort by Gallup, the private health-management firm Healthways, and America’s Health Insurance Plans, which represents 1,300 health-insurance companies nationwide.

“We really believe [this] is going to be one of the most powerful tools ever created for measuring and evaluating America’s relative health, well-being and prosperity,” Todd Hastings, senior director with Nashville, Tenn.-based Healthways, said in a national teleconference.

Nearly 435,000 surveys have been conducted since Gallup began collecting data Jan. 2, 2008. Initial results released this week include national numbers for 2008 and the first two months of 2009, and rankings based on 2008 survey results for states and congressional districts.

Arkansas’ overall well-being ranking of 46th for 2008 came with a score of 62.9 out of 100, based on surveys with 3,531 Arkansans last year. The national well-being score was 63.81 on Friday.

The well-being score is a composite taken from six categories: life evaluation, work quality, basic access, healthy behaviors, physical health and emotional health.

THE SURVEY

The 15-minute surveys consist of about 50 questions, said JimHarter, chief scientist for workplace and well-being with Gallup.

Questions include whether the person has high blood pressure, if they smiled or laughed a lot the day before, if they feel satisfied with their job and whether they have access to clean water, medicine, and affordable fruits and vegetables.

They’re asked basic demographic and health questions, such as their age, income level, and whether they smoke.

For the life-evaluation category, people are asked to imagine standing on a 10-rung ladder, with the bottom of the ladder representing the worst possible life and the top as the best possible life, Harter said.

Scores are based on the percentage of favorable responses. For the 2008 reports, researchers put the margin of error at plus or minus 0.2 percentage points.

“We’re measuring physical, emotional and economic wellbeing,” Harter said. “We do that by asking Americans about their lives every day.”

Amy Neftzger, lead researcher for well-being at Healthways, said the survey was developed with the help of a scientific advisory council. Some questions have been used by psychologists and sociologists for decades, she said.

The ladder questions, for example, were developed by Princeton University sociologist Hadley Cantril and his colleagues in the 1960s.

Raw data for the index are available to researchers and academic partners. Anyone else wanting raw data would be considered on a case-by-case basis, and a fee likely would apply, said spokesman Johanna Clark of Allison & Partners public-relations firm in Santa Monica, Calif.

Company officials declined to release the cost of producing the index, she said.

GETTING BETTER

Utah ranked highest in the overall well-being category at 69.2, followed by Hawaii, Wyoming, Colorado and Minnesota. The bottom five ranked states were Arkansas, Ohio, Mississippi, Kentucky and West Virginia.

Dr. Gary Wheeler, associate medical director for quality improvement with the Arkansas Foundation for Medical Care, said he likes that the index acknowledges several factors contribute to a person’s health.

As for Arkansas’ scores, it only confirms what health-care officials already know, he said.

“I didn’t find any surprises,” said Wheeler, also a professor of pediatrics at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. “From a health point of view, we have known for years that there are tremendous socioeconomic determinants of health.”

There are already efforts toaddress some issues highlighted by the report, Wheeler said. For example, there’s a push to make more mental-health services available with UAMS’ new Psychiatric Research Institute and the creation of the Children’s Behavioral Health Care Commission.

There are efforts to improve Arkansans’ health with programs to increase physical education in schools and policies to reduce smoking in public. Tobacco-tax increases approved by the Legislature aim to further reduce tobacco use while providing money for more than 20 health-related programs in the state, Wheeler said.

“We’re changing people’s behavior ... it’s something that doesn’t happen overnight,” he said. “It takes years to get people to change.”

Ryan, with the Arkansas Center for Healthcare Improvement, said he’s optimistic Arkansas’ scores will improve. The new well-being index is just one more report to consider along with other information available, he said.

If the companies keep to their goal, health officials will have 25 years to watch the index andgauge its usefulness.

“This is new, but if this proves to be a valid tool, then that longterm perspective in some ways may be the most important aspectof this,” Ryan said.

The index and links to state and congressional district reports are online at www.well-beingindex.com.

Arkansas, Pages 9, 14 on 03/16/2009

Copyright © 2009, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc.

All rights reserved.

This document may not be reprinted without the express written permission of Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc.

Material from the Associated Press is Copyright © 2009, Associated Press and may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press text, photo, graphic, audio and/or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium. Neither these AP materials nor any portion thereof may be stored in a computer except for personal and noncommercial use. The AP will not be held liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions therefrom or in the transmission or delivery of all or any part thereof or for any damages arising from any of the foregoing. All rights reserved.