Healthcare Access in the United States
How does access to care and other basic needs impact standard health metrics? A capstone project.
Frances Romero & Haleigh Schwartz
August 12, 2024
Data from: Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) and County Health Rankings and Roadmaps (CHRR)
Frances Romero and I worked together on our capstone to investigate how access to care and other basic needs impacts standard health metrics. We found significant correlations between various socio-economic factors and key health outcomes such as life expectancy, infant mortality, and age-adjusted death rate. Southern states continually showed worse health outcomes than the northwestern states. Lower income areas, communities with greater segregation between races, and food deserts all had low health metrics. Future public health work should focus on builidng infrastructure and increasing access to care and other basic needs in these areas.
Additionally, broadband internet access, food security, income, rate of Primary Care Proviers (PCPs), and exercise opportunities emerged as crucial necessities for improving health. Since reduced access to these items (particularly internet access, exercise opportunities, and available providers) are correlated with lower health metrics, this suggests a lower health literacy may also exist in these areas. Especially where internet access is low, increasing opportunities to learn about health and science through school and community programs may also provide benefits in improving the overall health of these communities.
Please visit our website for further details.
NOTE: Thank you to iStock by Getty Images for the stock healthcare image used for this project.