The 2012 County Health Calculator, an interactive app developed by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Virginia Commonwealth University’s Center on Human Needs, can show what the health impact would be if more people in a state or county had a college education and higher income.
For instance, in Los Angeles County, if five percent more people attended some college and four percent more had an income higher than twice the federal poverty level, then 3,000 lives could be saved, 28,800 cases of diabetes would be prevented, and $251 million in diabetes costs would be eliminated every year.
Much of what influences our health happens outside the doctor’s office—in our schools, workplaces, and neighborhoods, the Calculator’s website states. Use the Calculator to find out how more education and income would impact the health in your community!
Tags: FPL, higher learning, RWJF
