Charting the course: North Carolina's progress towards the Healthy Carolinians 2000 objectives

09/2^8 7 STUDIES A Special Report Series by THE STATE CENTER FOR HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL STATISTICS P.O. Box 29538, Raleigh, N.C. 27626-0538 MC November, 1994 OLE/-: DEC 0 1594 N.C. STATE LIBRARY RAi CHARTING THE COURSE: NORTH CAROLINA'S PROGRESS TOWARDS THE HEALTHY CAROLINIANS 2000 OBJECTIVES By Kathryn P. Blue Abstract In 1991 North Carolina formed a task force to develop objectives to improve the health status of the citizens of the state. Healthy Carolinians 2000: The Report of the Governor's Task Force on Health Objectives for the Year 2000 was based on the Federal report Healthy People 2000: National Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Objectives. The Task Force set objectives, goals, and special targets in 1 1 categories designed to allow tracking of changes over time. The State Center for Health and Environmental Statistics was designated as the organization that would monitor the objectives. This is the first report on trends in the Healthy Carolinians 2000 objectives, which also includes information on some activities of county Healthy Carolinians Task Forces. It is hoped that as local task forces implement their strategies, their combined efforts will improve the 'state's health status indicators. Improvements have been seen in several areas of health status since the publication of the Healthy Carolinians report, and it appears likely that goals for at least six indicators can be achieved by the year 2000 if present trends continue. Many indicators, however, have shown no improvement, and some have, in fact, worsened since the adoption of the Healthy Carolinians goals late in 1992. NORTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT, HEALTH, AND NATURAL RESOURCES QbMNR