What Shapes Health and Well-Being Survey: City and State Topline Report
- Most survey respondents identified as male, white and non-Hispanic, and liberal in their economic and social ideology. Most had also been in their current job for five or more years and were ages 50 to 69.
- Respondents viewed social determinants of health and health equity as important factors influencing their community’s health.
- Respondents felt it was important to be responsive to residents and believed that residents, grassroots organizations, state and city governments, and funders wanted them to take action so that all people have opportunities to be healthy.
- Although respondents felt it was important to take action to increase opportunities to be healthy, many lacked confidence that their organization could or would do anything, with lack of resources and lack of cross-sector coordination as the most commonly cited barriers.
To better understand the views and knowledge of people in positions of influence in state and local communities, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation partnered with Mathematica to field a nationally representative survey of leaders in the United States. These leaders represent influential people in local communities, businesses, and state-level organizations whose views and actions can affect the health of the community. This topline report presents descriptive statistics from the baseline survey, fielded October 2020 to March 2022 to leaders from 50 states, 325 cities, and nine sectors. These findings help illustrate what leaders think are important drivers of actions and policies that promote health and well-being in their communities.
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