Increasing the number, quality, and types of health promotion programs at worksites, especially smaller worksites, remains an important public health goal.
Content: Healthy People 2030, the fifth iteration of the Healthy People initiative, provides science-based national health objectives with targets to improve the health and well-being of Americans. For the first time since its 1979 establishment, the Healthy People framework aims to attain health literacy as an overarching goal and foundational principle to achieving health and well-being. Growing literature on health literacy describes it as a concept not solely reliant on individual capabilities but also on organizations' ability to make health-related information and services equitably accessible and comprehensible. Program: The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) updates the Healthy People objectives each decade based on the most current science. For the development of Healthy People 2030, HHS drew on recommendations from the Secretary's Advisory Committee on National Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Objectives for 2030 (Secretary's Advisory Committee), an independent advisory committee of national health experts, to update the 20-year old individual-focused Healthy People definition of health literacy. HHS solicited input from members of the public and users on the proposed changes to that definition. Implementation: HHS published a Federal Register notice to solicit public comments, which were qualitatively analyzed by government staff. Evaluation: The 2 separate analyses revealed plurality support for improving the definition to focus on both individual and organizational roles in health literacy. Results led HHS subject matter experts to update the definition to include definitions of personal health literacy and organizational health literacy. Healthy People 2030's expanded health literacy definition reflects the most current science and input from the Secretary's Advisory Committee, public comments, and HHS subject matter experts. Discussion: The updated definition is intended to advance Healthy People 2030's health literacy goals particularly as more organizations in public health and other sectors acknowledge their role in the delivery of quality health information and services.
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For 4 decades, Healthy People has represented the United States' vision for a healthier future. Each decade, it serves as a public health road map and compass for the nation by establishing a broad set of overarching health goals while specifying actions to improve length and quality of life. For the current decade, this comprehensive national health promotion and disease prevention agenda encompasses more than a thousand specific objectives organized into 42 topic areas. To focus particular attention on the leading causes of preventable death and illness, Healthy People 2020 features Leading Health Indicators. This subset of 26 indicators from 12 topic areas offers high-priority targets for which concerted action could lead to major improvements for public health. This article reviews newly available Leading Health Indicators' data for the first third of the decade, thereby offering a timely snapshot of the nation's progress toward better health (eTable in the Supplement). The data demonstrate areas of both improvement and continued need. On the positive side, 14 of the 26 Leading Health Indicators (54%) have documented improvement, and 4 have met or exceeded their Healthy People 2020 targets. For example, for Environmental Quality, both indicators have surpassed their targets for improved air quality and reduced exposure of children to secondhand smoke. With respect to Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity, the percentage of adults meeting federal guidelines for aerobic physical activity and muscle-strengthening activity has also met the 2020 target. Further progress extends to Injury and Violence, with the age-adjusted rate of homicides decreasing to reach, and even exceed, the Healthy People 2020 target. 1 Other topic areas reflecting improvement include the following: Clinical Preventive Services showed improvement in 3 of 4 of its indicators-colorectal cancer screening, hypertension control, and childhood immunizations; Maternal, Infant, and Child Health showed decreases in infant deaths and improvement in preterm live births; Substance Abuse showed a decrease in adolescents' use of alcohol or illicit drugs over the past 30 days; Tobacco showed declining cigarette smoking rates among adults; and Reproductive and Sexual Health showed that more individuals who are HIV positive know their serostatus. In the key area of Social Determinants of Health, the interrelated worlds of education and health 2 marked an improvement in the percentage of students who earned a high school diploma 4 years after starting ninth grade. 1 The new data also document no improvement for 11 of the 26 indicators (42%) and, of those, 3 show worsening health outcomes.
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