Community Health

Healthy communities have safe places to exercise, access to fresh fruit and vegetables, clean air and water, and laws that help protect the public. KHI researchers and journalists work to understand and describe the various factors that influence health, including exercise, school nutrition and immunizations.

Healthy Communities Wyandotte: Recommendations for a Better Future

1 | Community Health

Healthy Communities Wyandotte is a countywide initiative to involve local leaders and residents in improving the health of people in the community.

Policy and Research

Healthy Communities Wyandotte: Recommendations for a Better Future

1 | Oct. 25, 2011 | Community Health

Healthy Communities Wyandotte is a countywide initiative to involve local leaders and residents in improving the health of people in the community.

2011 County Health Rankings video report

0 | Mar. 30, 2011 | Community Health, Rankings-Indicators

Dr. Gianfranco Pezzino discusses some of the key concepts of the 2011 County Health Rankings report released today by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute.

Webinar and video: Putting the 2011 County Health Rankings into Action

0 | Feb. 24, 2011 | Community Health

The Kansas Health Institute collaborated with the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute to create the “Putting County Health Rankings into Action” webinar. The webinar featured approaches that Kansas communities are using to mobilize community health improvement efforts in response the County Health Rankings.

KHI's Pezzino talks to KC news station about community health

0 | Nov. 15, 2010 | Community Health, Presentations

Pezzino speaks to Fox 4 News about how certain factors related to our behaviors, our education, and our communities affect our health.

Kansas County Health Rankings: Understanding the Health of Atchison County

0 | Oct. 19, 2010 | Community Health, Presentations

The Kansas Health Institute delivered this presentation to a meeting of Atchison Hospital’s Healthcare Resource for a Healthy Community Committee. The presentation describes the purpose and methodology of the Kansas County Health Rankings, and how the report and its subsequent efforts relate specifically to the health of Atchison County.

More in Community Health Research

News

Bills aimed at youth ‘pharm parties’ and use of e-cigs before committee

0 | Feb. 02, 2012 | Children, Tobacco

Two bills before a House corrections committee are aimed at growing problems among youths in Leavenworth County, according to county officials.

Registration open for faith-based initiative aimed at SEK health

0 | Feb. 02, 2012 | Rural Health, Social Determinants of Health

The "Leadership and Faith, Southeast Kansas" program is intended to equip community members with leadership skills and build on the momentum of Project 17, an initiative aimed at improving the economy and quality of life in southeast Kansas.

Selling doctors on rural communities

0 | Feb. 02, 2012 | Workforce, Rural Health

Recruiting doctors to live and work in rural America is a chronic problem. Most health centers try to attract workers with big salaries, a home on a golf course or other cushy perks. Not so in Ashland, Kan., population 855, where the CEO of a tiny hospital is building a reverse recruitment model based on remote access and problems commonly found in third-world countries.

SRS defends change in food stamp policy

1 | Jan. 30, 2012 | Children, SRS, Legislature, Nutrition

A top official at the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services defended a change in policy that has resulted in at least 1,000 children being dropped from the state’s food stamp program.

‘Turf battle’ continues over dental practitioner bill

0 | Jan. 30, 2012 | Legislature, Medicaid-CHIP, Oral Health

A bill that would allow a new type of oral health care provider in Kansas faces opposition from dentists. But backers of the bill include the state’s safety net clinics, major health foundations, several dentists who disagree with the association’s stand and officials at Fort Hays State University, which wants to launch a program to train the registered dental practitioners.

Governor proposes cuts in children's programs

1 | Feb. 06, 2012 | Budget, Children, Legislature

Citing uncertainty in the amount of money Kansas will receive from major tobacco companies as part of a long-standing legal settlement, Gov. Sam Brownback has proposed cutting $16 million from programs that promote parenting skills and early childhood development.

Issue Brief: The Growing Health and Financial Costs of Inadequate Health Insurance

0 | Jan. 01, 2009 | Health Insurance, Underinsurance

This introduction to the issue of underinsurance discusses the difficulty in determining what constitutes underinsurance and alerts policymakers to issues they should consider when addressing this issue.

Brownback appoints Gilmore new SRS secretary, unveils ERO

0 | Feb. 03, 2012 | KDHE, KDoA, SRS, Medicaid-CHIP

Gov. Sam Brownback today appointed former legislator Phyllis Gilmore to be secretary of the Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services, following the troubled tenure of Rob Siedlecki, who resigned in December after just a year at the post.

Bills aimed at youth ‘pharm parties’ and use of e-cigs before committee

0 | Feb. 02, 2012 | Children, Tobacco

Two bills before a House corrections committee are aimed at growing problems among youths in Leavenworth County, according to county officials.

Attorney says bilking Medicaid is easy

0 | Jan. 25, 2012 | Legislature, Health Care Delivery, Medicaid-CHIP

The head of the Medicaid fraud unit at the Kansas Attorney General’s Office told lawmakers it was easy to cheat programs that provide in-home services for the disabled and the frail elderly.

RWJF posts Dole forum videos

0 | Sep. 11, 2008 | Imported

TOPEKA, Sept. 11 - Videos of the recent health-care forum at the Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics have been posted on the Web site of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Governor proposes cuts in children's programs

1 | Feb. 06, 2012 | Budget, Children, Legislature

Citing uncertainty in the amount of money Kansas will receive from major tobacco companies as part of a long-standing legal settlement, Gov. Sam Brownback has proposed cutting $16 million from programs that promote parenting skills and early childhood development.

Video: Community Water Fluoridation

3 | Jun. 22, 2011 | About KHI

In this video, KHI senior analyst Tatiana Lin discusses community water fluoridation from a public health perspective.

SRS defends change in food stamp policy

1 | Jan. 30, 2012 | Children, SRS, Legislature, Nutrition

A top official at the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services defended a change in policy that has resulted in at least 1,000 children being dropped from the state’s food stamp program.

Governor hints at money targeted for waiting-list problem

1 | Jan. 20, 2012 | Government, Medicaid-CHIP

Gov. Sam Brownback on Friday hinted that his administration might use a portion of the revenues gained from his proposed elimination of the state’s earned income tax credit to help reduce long-standing waiting lists for services for the disabled.

Bill would take developmentally disabled services out of Medicaid makeover plan

1 | Jan. 20, 2012 | Legislature

A Wichita lawmaker has introduced a bill that would remove long-term care services for the developmentally disabled from the governor's plan to expand Medicaid managed care.

Cuts in mental health funding affect veterans

1 | Jan. 17, 2012 | Legislature, Mental Health

Recent cuts in community mental health center budgets are harming veterans and their families, according to a center director.

More in Community Health News


Wyandotte County and the Health Rankings: A community answers a call to action

Determined to move Wyandotte County, Kansas, out of last place in the County Health Rankings, Mayor Joe Reardon and community partners are working together to improve the health of the county's citizens.
Watch larger version.

→ More on the 2011 County Health Rankings: khi.org/chr