The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has awarded the Center on Society and Health $289,510 to conduct research to identify how place-based factors drive-state level health and health equity. This Health of the States 2 (HOTS2) project will expand on the previous Health of the States investigation by exploring the complex interrelationships between 123 determinants of health spanning five domains (health care, health behaviors, social and economic factors, the physical and social environment, and public policies and spending) and 39 health outcomes across the lifespan.

The extensive research from the first Health of the States project filled a summary document and nine spotlight reports focusing on: life expectancy and mortality; birth outcomes; child and adolescent health; sexually transmitted infections; injury fatalities; adult health status; overweight/obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular conditions; and cancer, lower respiratory disease, influenza and pneumonia, and Alzheimer’s disease. The goal of HOTS2 is to expand upon this dataset and to determine quantitatively what domains and determinants are most important in predicting health outcomes throughout the lifespan.  The Center will also use data and findings from HOTS2 to inform the Health Opportunity and Equity Project (HOPE), an ongoing collaboration with the National Collaborative for Health Equity and the Texas Health Institute.

To learn more about the Center’s ongoing work or the HOTS or HOPE projects, visit our website here.