Measures
The Wisconsin Health Atlas is designed to provide information on factors that combine to affect the health of Wisconsin. Although individual behaviors are important in shaping health, they do not give the complete picture. Other factors such as clinical care, economic conditions, and the physical environment are just as influential as individual behaviors in determining whether we are healthy, and perhaps even more so. Further, we aim to provide information on the policies and systems that shape the environments in which people live, work, learn and play.
The Wisconsin Health Atlas provides information on health factors, including behaviors, systems, and environments that shape health outcomes in Wisconsin communities. Our model of these factors is based on the County Health Rankings model.
The Wisconsin Health Atlas focuses on health outcomes that are the most pressing for Wisconsin. While we are starting with obesity, we plan to expand to other health outcomes as time and funding allows.
Health outcomes
health factors
Health factors include all different measures of human behaviors and their environments that contribute to health. We break them down into four groups:
- Health Behaviors
- Physical Environment
- Social and Economic Factors
- Clinical Care
We split policies into the groups that they affect, such as Early Childhood, Schools, and the Built Environment. Policies exist at many levels, from National down to individual institutions.
- Early Childhood
- Schools
- Active Communities
- Healthy Food Access
- Health Care Systems
- State & Local Policy