Montgomery County recently received the top health scores in an annual report issued by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, scoring better than state and national averages in categories relating to quality of life, clinical access, mortality, socioeconomic status and more—but the report shows severe disparities between populations within the county.
Using an algorithm and statistics to determine what communities are at the top in the health care department, the report produced by the public health philanthropy has ranked Montgomery County No. 1 in the state since 2014 for overall health outcomes.
The report breaks down results by ZIP codes and this year’s report shows “significant variations” among ZIP codes within the county, according to a county press release.
The county’s top five ZIP codes are in the Ashton, Bethesda, Potomac, West Bethesda and Chevy Chase areas, while the lowest five are in Silver Spring, Gaithersburg, Aspen Hill, Wheaton and Rockville/Twinbrook.
The foundation’s annual project examines both health factors and outcomes that include mortality, quality of life, behavior, clinical access, environment, and socioeconomic status, applying a modified algorithm and statistical approaches used in its County Health Rankings.
Health factors are defined in the report as elements that influence the health of a community, such as health behaviors, clinical care, social and economic factors and the area’s physical environment. Health outcomes represent how healthy a community is based on the length and quality of life of its residents.
The report is intended to help the county “build an equitable response” to improving outcomes for county residents by developing targeted engagement activities to address social, economic, environmental, clinical and behavioral factors that affect health outcomes, county health officials said.
“We need to improve health and quality of life outcomes for everyone and demonstrate a tracking mechanism that will help us evaluate how our budget, policy and practice are improving outcomes for all residents,” county Health Officer Travis Gayles said in a press release. “Our goal is to utilize the data to inform our approaches in prevention, promotion, policy, practice, and planning for existing and new health programs that work to meet the public health needs of Montgomery County.”
