Most research organizations relish the opportunity to work with a program long enough to witness its profound effects on a community, or even an entire state. The Improve Group has had this privilege through our partnership with many grantees of the Statewide Health Improvement Program (SHIP) in Minnesota.
The SHIP initiative began in 2009 with the goal of supporting “good health for parents, kids, and the whole community, by decreasing obesity and reducing the number of people who use tobacco or who are exposed to tobacco smoke.” Improvements in these areas not only enhance quality of life, but also provide economic benefits, such as lowering health care costs for treating smoking-related ailments, as well as illnesses that are linked to obesity.
A summary from the Minnesota Department of Health, titled Statewide Health Improvement Program: Lowering costs through prevention, shows the remarkable gains Minnesota is making through its community-centered implementation of SHIP. Highlights include:
- Obesity rates for Minnesota have stabilized, while they have increased in the U.S. and neighboring states
- Minnesotans moving to a healthy weight result in health care savings for the state
- Youth smoking fell from 18.1% to just over 10%, which is the steepest decline ever reported by the Minnesota Youth Tobacco Survey
- Annual health care costs for treating smokers is down
Some of the success of SHIP may be attributed to the 4 cycles of continued funding it has received, allowing counties to further develop and refine their efforts. The funding that counties receive for evaluation with each grant cycle has ensured its impact on communities is being measured and sustained. This multi-year support from the state reflects its overall commitment to keeping Minnesotans healthy.
SHIP may also be contributing to the positive health rankings the state receives nationally. For example, the United Health Foundation places Minnesota 6th highest in overall health as of the 2014 rankings. And the Commonwealth Fund Health System Data Center ranked Minnesota number 1 on their health performance scorecard for 2014, which includes indicators such as obesity, smoking and cancer-related deaths.
The Improve Group’s involvement in evaluating SHIP efforts has grown to 25 Minnesota counties. Through evaluation, we are able to see what changes have the biggest impact on healthy behaviors, and where adjustments in delivery differ in the various communities. We are so pleased to continue to contribute a small part to the great work public health is conducting to better peoples’ lives.
You can read the entire SHIP Fact Sheet here: http://bit.ly/SHIPfactsheet
Here is another recent article of SHIP activities in Minnesota: http://bit.ly/1SNaoWf
Additionally, here is an example of a mailer we produced to send to residents of Benton county to help communicate the outcomes of SHIP in their community: Benton County residents benefit from Minnesota’s SHIP
