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Executive
Summary 
by Paul Mattessich
Executive Director

According to the World Health Organization, someone born in the United States will not, on average, live as long as someone born in England, Sweden, Spain, Norway, Malta, Netherlands, France, Finland, and other countries, even though we spend more than they do on health care.

In fact, we spend more than any other country on health care, but rank at the very bottom among the wealthiest countries on the quality of our health care system. (The United Kingdom, ranked in first place, spends only about 40% of what the United States spends, yet achieves such better health for its population.)

We're not the happiest country, either - with a rank of 17 in a 2013 United Nations report. Interestingly, the countries where people live the longest also tend to have the highest levels of happiness.

How can our bodies and our spirits get into better shape?

In thinking about health, we often jump immediately to health care. However, effective health care probably only accounts for about 20 percent of the reasons why we are healthy (or not). Our health depends on much more. The condition of our bodies, the illnesses that afflict us, and even how long we live depend largely on the social determinants of health. These social determinants include our housing, our income, our education, the availability of nutritious food, air quality, the level of crime in our neighborhood, facilities to promote physical activity, and other aspects of our environment. In short, many of the factors that lead to illness, or promote good health, lie outside of the health care system.
JUNE 2015
New on the Wilder blog
What is the right question to resolve the early learning debate? 
Dr. Richard Chase, senior research manager, weighs in on the early learning debate with a new, research-based policy brief and accompanying blog post on early learning. Read the post.

A Story of Impact: Habitat for Humanity
Research Associate Maddie Hansen reflects on the impact of Habitat for Humanity of Minnesota, first through her experience as an AmeriCorps VISTA volunteer for the organization, then as a researcher evaluating their work statewide. Read the post.
Featured in MinnPost
What Have We Learned from 30 Years of Studying Homelessness in Minnesota?
Greg Owen has served as principal investigator for the statewide study of homelessness since its inception in 1984. He recently penned a commentary that appeared in MinnPost exploring what we've learned from the study. Read it now.
Chemical Health Among Youth with Incarcerated Parents

More than 50 community members gathered in May to learn about new research on the effects of parental incarceration on youth. Hosted by the Minnesota Strengthening Families Affected by Incarceration Collaborative, this event explored chemical health among youth impacted by incarceration and ways to support these youth.  

 

Read the event wrap-up, watch video, and see what people said about the findings.   

The fall 2015 event in this series will explore mental health and supports for youth impacted by incarceration. Watch for details a future newsletter.  

Recently Published
Veterans' Needs in Northeastern Minnesota
United Way of Northeastern Minnesota and Wilder Research conducted an assessment to determine the greatest needs for veterans and their families in that area of the state. 

American Indian Infant Mortality in Minnesota
Conducted for Twin Cities Healthy Start, this study identified gaps in services for mothers and provider training needs. The results will be used to develop training opportunities to help health care and social service providers better serve American Indian mothers and their children.

 

See all the latest studies from Wilder Research.
New Staff
Please join us in welcoming three new staff to Wilder Research! Learn more about them by clicking the links below.
Julian Kittelson-Aldred
IT Analyst
Merone Melekin Research Assistant
Tony Tian
Survey Interviewer