Ohio Chartbook 2008: Child Health and Health Care across Ohio has been designed as an ongoing resource to provide easy-to-access estimates of child health and health care indicators for policy makers, program managers, and other stakeholders. Here is an overview of what you will find on this site, and what to expect in the future.

 

Each tab in the top bar provides access to a different content focus of children’s health and health care. The first page of each section introduces that subject and highlights key findings about Ohio children from the Ohio Family Health Survey. It also contains a summary table comparing results in 2008 with those from 2004. The right column of the section's introductory page also includes a box of Implications, emphasizing the importance of that content for Ohio’s policy and decision makers. You can navigate to topic pages within the section by using the menu below the section title.

 

The text on each topic page refers to data contained in numbered figures and tables. Figures are easily viewed at the bottom of that topic page. Additional appendix tables are currently available in the print version of the Ohio Chartbook 2008 and will be available as PDF files from the Downloads section accessed from the menu below the tabs.

 

All of the indicators included in this first edition of the Chartbook are from the Ohio Family Health Survey (OFHS), conducted in 2008 and 2004. In future expansions of the website, we will be adding relevant findings from other data sets including the National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH). For details on the datasets used in this report and their limitations, please read the Background and Methods sections.

 

For more information about the topics discussed in this site, consult the Cited Sources or the other Ohio-specific resources recommended below.

 

 

There are eight primary content areas covered in this website. The structure was designed to reflect the information needs of policymakers and program managers as well as the well established consumer information framework that is used by the Institute of Medicine and others to report on quality of care.

 

The first three sections (tabs)--Demographics, Health Status, and Insurance & Utilization--set the stage for a focus on quality by describing Ohio’s children, their health status and needs, and the degree to which they have access to health services. The next four sections (tabs)--Basics of Good Care, Healthy Development, Special Needs, and Getting Better--focus on the actual types and quality of services that children receive in each of these areas. Finally, the last section, By Region, reports out all the preceding information by various geographic characteristics.

 

The Demographics section presents a demographic overview of children and youth in Ohio with information on child characteristics, such as age and race/ethnicity, as well as family characteristics, such as income and education levels. Additional data on child demographics are available now from the Ohio Kids Count report and are forthcoming here from the 2007 NSCH.

 

The Health Status section describes the health status of Ohio children and youth, including parents’ overall assessment of the physical and mental wellbeing of their child. Children with special health care needs (CSHCN) are introduced in the Health Status chapter and examined in greater detail in the Special Needs chapter (see below). Additional information on childhood overweight and obesity can be found in a separate OFHS report, Obesity in Children and Families Across Ohio. Additional information about the mental health status of children is available in another OFHS report, Mental Health Status, Access to Care, and Service Utilization in Ohio. More indicators of child health and wellbeing are available from the Ohio Department of Health.

 

The Insurance and Utilization section examines insurance types, insurance stability, and the impact insurance status has on children’s access to care. This chapter also profiles children and families who are potentially eligible for Medicaid but were uninsured at the time of the survey. Additional information about this topic is available in a separate OFHS report, Potentially Eligible Medicaid Population with Medicaid Coverage.

 

The Basics of Good Care section provides information about the use of personal doctors and nurses as well as usual sources of sick care and health advice by Ohio children. This chapter also includes parents’ assessments of overall quality of health care and unmet needs.

 

The Healthy Development section provides information on children’s receipt of preventive medical care, including lead testing, vision testing, and dental care. 

 

The Special Needs section provides a look at Ohio’s CSHCN and the types of care these children receive. Additional information about this topic is available in a separate OFHS report, A Profile of Children with Special Health Care Needs in Ohio.

 

The Getting Better section focuses on the frequency of emergency room visits and overnight hospital stays for acute conditions.

 

The By Region section compares data among regions of Ohio. Comparisons are made among six metropolitan counties (Cuyahoga, Franklin, Hamilton, Lucas, Montgomery, and Summit); four major regions (Metropolitan, Appalachian, Rural non-Appalachian, and Suburban); and the eight managed care regions defined by Medicaid within Ohio. 

 

Finally, the Just the Data section allows users to select a subset of tables to compare results. You may also view data in tables instead of charts and export data to PDF.