From: Assisted Living Federation of America

Minnesota tops the list of healthiest states for older adults for the second consecutive year, according to data compiled by UnitedHealth Foundation for its second America’s Health Rankings Senior Report.

Hawaii is ranked second, followed by New Hampshire, Vermont and Massachusetts. Mississippi ranks 50^th as the least healthy state while Louisiana, Kentucky, Oklahoma and Arkansas fill out the bottom five slots.

Minnesota cleaned up thanks to ranking first for all health determinants combined, including ranking in the top five states for a high rate of annual dental visits, quality nursing home beds, prescription drug coverage, low percentage of marginal food insecurity and ready availability of home health care workers. Minnesota also ranks second for all health outcomes combined including low hospitalization rate for hip fractures, high percentage of able-bodied seniors, low premature death rate, low prevalence of full-mouth tooth extractions and few poor mental health days per month.

Similar to the top ranked states, the states that rank in the bottom five states for overall health also rank in the bottom five for all health determinants.

Nationally, the 2014 edition said several metrics improved since last year’s inaugural report, including that more seniors are active, pursuing preferred options for end-of-life care, avoiding preventable hospitalizations and having access to improved quality nursing home care. A few measures show challenges to overall health including a decrease in flu vaccination coverage and an increase in food insecurity.

For the past several years, we’ve been writing about what we are thankful for. I’ve asked our Executive Directors to participate, and I’ve asked other staff members to participate in writing this blog.

This year, it’s just me.

I want to express our sincere gratitude to our team that work with us every day. Our communities provide care 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. There isn’t a day that goes by that we don’t think about how lucky we are to work with such fantastic, and dedicated people. Thank you for all that you do!

To our families who have entrusted their most prized possession to our care, we say thank you. Thank you for believing in our vision and in our team’s ability to take care of your loved one. I hear so many wonderful comments about what you love most about our communities – I wish I could share them all. We may have nice looking buildings, but it always comes back to our staff and how they care for your loved one – and that makes us proud.

Bottom line, we are incredibly fortunate to be in this business and to care for others. We love the people who work with us and we absolutely adore our residents and their families.

We hope you have a very Happy Thanksgiving.

Roman Bloemke, Dir of Operations.