Florida 42nd On Wellbeing Index

By  //  February 29, 2012

MEDICAL NEWS

EDITOR’S NOTE: Florida’s 2011 well-being index score of 64.9 is a slight decrease from its 2010 score of 65.1, and puts the Sunshine State into the bottom 10 nationally. Indices across the country have essentially been static since 2008 due in large part to the sluggish U.S. economy and ongoing healthcare fiscal challenges in both the public and private sectors.  Focusing on and improving wellness and population health management will require a paradigm change in the way providers manage wellbeing and how payers pay for it.   

Western States the Best, Southern States the Worst

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Hawaii residents had the highest wellbeing in the nation in 2011 with a Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index score of 70.2, maintaining that state’s No. 1 status for a third consecutive year. North Dakota, Minnesota, Utah, and Alaska rounded out the top five states. West Virginia residents had the lowest wellbeing, with a score of 62.3, slightly improved from 61.7 in 2010.

These state-level data are based on daily surveys conducted from January through December 2011. The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index is calculated on a scale of 0 to 100, where a score of 100 represents ideal wellbeing.

The Well-Being Index score for the nation was 66.2 in 2011, down slightly from 66.8 in 2010 and the lowest score Gallup and Healthways have recorded since tracking began in 2008. The decrease in the overall score in 2011 is because of small declines across all six of the sub-indexes that comprise the Well-Being Index.

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