Health
HEALTH
United Way addresses pressing health and healthcare issues facing communities across the country. Community by community, United Ways and their partners target childhood obesity, health insurance coverage, healthcare quality, childhood immunizations, substance abuse, family violence, oral health or other healthcare concerns voiced by their community.
We’re working to improve the health of our country, and we’ve set a bold goal for the next 10 years to help us get there. With your help, United Way is working to increase by one-third the number of youth and adults who are healthy and avoid risky behaviors.
Achieving this goal requires us all to become more aware of health risks and the potential effects they have on ourselves and others, starting from before birth. And working to change policies and practices, such as extending health care coverage, will enable more people to live healthier lives.
Learn more about United Way’s Ambitious 10 Year Goals.
Health in our community:
Illinois ranks 47th of 50 states in funding to programs that serve persons who are mentally ill. In our state, mental illness has particularly high rates among youth, especially low income teens who are at risk of experiencing trauma that can lead to mental illness.
PROBLEM: Poor health negatively impacts every aspect of a person’s life. A child with a toothache is unable to concentrate in school and succeed. A family without health insurance is often overwhelmed to the point of bankruptcy by the financial burdens of a serious illness. Seniors without prescription
assistance sometimes have to decide between food and medicines.
SOLUTION: By providing access to health support, and prevention programs, United Way decreases people’s chances of developing diseases and gives them practical help when they acquire health problems.
How United Way is helping people in the DuPage area improve their health:
• Immunization linkage
• Active recreation for children
• Exercise programs for seniors and persons with disabilities
• Family and individual counseling programs
• Expressive art therapy
• Children’s mental health programs
• Adult day services
• Programs for persons with disabilities
• Senior programs and congregate meals programs
Meet Roxanne: A United Way Success Story
Key Health Facts
- During the past four decades, obesity rates have soared among all age groups, increasing almost fivefold among children ages 6 to 11. RWJF
- Today, more than 33 percent of children and adolescents are overweight or obese. That’s nearly 25 million kids and teenagers. RWJF
- Children with health coverage are better prepared to learn in school and succeed in life. (Institute of Medicine. From Neurons to Neighborhood: The Science of Early Childhood Development. Washington DC: National Academies Press, 2000.)
- The number of Americans without health insurance has increased steadily since the beginning of the century, now totaling about 47 million. Nearly 9 million of these are children, and more than 8 out of 10 are from working families.
- Despite the success of SCHIP, there are still 8.7 million children living without health insurance – more than the total number enrolled in the first and second grades in U.S. public schools. (Compiled by the State Health Access Data Assistance Center (SHADAC), University of Minnesota School of Public Health, using data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey 2007.)
- More than 8 in 10 of the nonelderly uninsured live in families where the head of the family works. (Employee Benefit Research Institute estimates from the March Current Population Survey, 2007 Supplement.)
