Healthy Kansans 2020
Healthy Kansans 2020 is a collaborative, strategic planning effort that identifies and adopts health priorities for improving the well-being of every Kansan. It builds on the framework of Healthy People 2020, which has guided national health goals for over a decade.
Healthy People 2020 provides science-based objectives designed to encourage better health outcomes for all Americans. It stems from a process that has, for three decades, established benchmarks, monitored progress, and fostered collaborations across diverse communities.
Drawing on that national momentum, Healthy Kansans 2020 translates these broad objectives into state-specific measures and initiatives. This translation aims to empower individuals to make informed health decisions and to track the impact of prevention programs within Kansas.
Kansas Health Matters, located at https://www.kansashealthmatters.org, serves as a one-stop data source for health indicators across the state. By illustrating needs through familiar and understandable graphics, it helps hospitals, health departments, policymakers, and local planners identify strategies and collaborate on improvements that can spark measurable progress.
Healthy Kansans 2020 relies on Kansas Health Matters data to review milestones, set realistic objectives, and refine action steps. Past achievements provide a sturdy foundation for this new planning cycle, revealing how far we have come and where we need to go.
Healthy People and Healthy Kansans have a shared history of multi-year planning. Healthy People 2020 represents the fourth comprehensive national initiative, succeeding:
- Healthy People 1990: Promoting Health/Preventing Disease: Objectives for the Nation
- Healthy People 2000: National Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Objectives
- Healthy People 2010: Objectives for Improving Health
Kansas mirrored these efforts by adopting state-level measures through the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (https://www.kdhe.ks.gov). The first multi-sector planning process in Kansas aligned with Healthy People 2000, leading to Healthy Kansans 2000 Health Objectives (1994) and subsequent reviews for Healthy Kansans 2010.
Carrying the pioneer spirit that shaped Kansas, Healthy Kansans 2020 continues this legacy of bold, focused work. It draws lessons from past planning results, emboldens communities to act, and upholds a vision of health equity for every resident ready to join the journey.
