Hurricane Sandy devastated much of the Atlantic coastal region—particularly New Jersey, where public health and other agencies from across the state came together to prepare for and respond to the extreme weather event. Ocean County alone saw more than 250 public health department employees working day and night to help the county’s 576,000 residents.

As part of its coverage on the public health response to Hurricane Sandy, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation created a series of videos featuring public health officials and those touched by the disaster.

>> Go here to read more about Hurricane Sandy and watched the RWJF video "Unwavering: Public Health's Dedication in the Wake of Hurricane Sandy."

In this video, Christopher Rinn, Assistant Commissioner of the Division of Public Health Infrastructure, Laboratories and Emergency Preparedness for the New Jersey Department of Health, describes how the public health department led the response to Hurricane Sandy by collaborating across acute care hospitals, EMS agencies, local health departments, home healthcare agencies, private sector partners and other sectors of the community.

Inspired by the 2012 American Public Health Association (APHA) Annual Meeting, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation recently talked with a range of national thought leaders to discuss what’s needed—and what works—to achieve better health.

Today, we're featuring video interviews with Adewale Troutman, MD, MPH, CPH, President-elect of the APHA.

Troutman spoke about how looking back on his own personal story—how far he’s come to get where he is today—makes him hopeful for the future.

He also discussed how working with non-traditional partners can help public health departments address social determinants of health such as housing, education, urban blight and crime. This leads to fairer, healthier communities.

Inspired by the 2012 American Public Health Association (APHA) Annual Meeting, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation recently talked with a range of national thought leaders to discuss what’s needed—and what works—to achieve better health.

Today, we're featuring video interviews with Reed Tuckson, MD, Executive Vice President and Chief of Medical Affairs for UnitedHealth Group.

Tuckson spoke with us about utilizing ever-advancing data sets and engendering public trust in order to improve individual and public health.

He also discussed how patient-centered care and the social determinants of illness must be approached and considered together in order to improve public health in communities.

Inspired by the 2012 American Public Health Association (APHA) Annual Meeting, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation recently talked with a range of national thought leaders to discuss what’s needed—and what works—to achieve better health.

Today, we're featuring video interviews with Mel Kohn, MD, MPH, Public Health Director and State Health Officer for Oregon.

Kohn spoke with us about the important roles that law and policy will play in the future of public health—especially as health care reform continues and expands.

He also explained how injury prevention, while a relatively new area of practice in the world of public health, can help to dramatically reduce human and financial costs for both individuals and communities.

Inspired by the 2012 American Public Health Association (APHA) Annual Meeting, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation recently talked with a range of national thought leaders to discuss what’s needed—and what works—to achieve better health.

Today, we're featuring video interviews with Ron Chapman, MD, MPH, Director of the California Department of Public Health.

Chapman spoke with us about the current national opportunity to transform public health by making quality improvement and performance management “a way of life.”

He also discussed how collaborating with city planners, the business community, transportation officials and others can enable us to build healthier communities from the ground up.

Inspired by the 2012 American Public Health Association (APHA) Annual Meeting, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation recently talked with a range of national thought leaders to discuss what’s needed—and what works—to achieve better health.

Today, we're featuring video interviews Alex Briscoe, director of the Alameda County Health Care Services Agency.

In the first video, Briscoe talks about the connection between health, wealth, race and class. Briscoe says, "it's now harder to get out of poverty than in the history of our civilization." Watch the video:

Briscoe also talked about how we can shift the power dynamic that exists between consumer and physician. How can we empower patients to realize that they are their own best clinician? Briscoe shares his ideas:

Finally, Briscoe talks about "the trump card" in achieving better health outcomes: the resilience of communities and individuals. Watch the video:

How do you get a public health message to stick? That’s the ultimate quest. And clever thinking is behind some recent campaigns including PSAs by “Glee” cast members to urge  teens to stop texting when they drive, and the “Tips From Former Smokers” series from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which shows the potential ravages of smoking.

A novel and very memorable campaign by a Rotary Club in Brazil joins the list. As reported by The Atlantic Cities, the club was determined to help lower the country’s high pedestrian fatality rate and so engaged some local athletes to make absolute sure that pedestrians can safely cross the crosswalk, with no cars in the way.

The campaign, called “Respect Life, Respect the Crosswalk,” goes to new heights in pursuit of the public’s health. Watch the video to see how…

>>Read the full story from The Atlantic Cities.

>>Watch the video:

There's a movement afoot. Cities and towns big and small, counties from coast to coast and groups of passionate individuals from all over are coming together across sectors to build healthier communities. If your community is at the forefront of this movement, it's your chance to get some recognition (and funding!) for your efforts. According to the County Health Rankings & Roadmaps website:

Throughout the country, people are coming together with a shared vision, strong leadership, and commitment to making needed and lasting changes that broadly improve community vitality... The Roadmaps to Health Prize is intended to honor these successful efforts and to inspire and stimulate similar activities in communities across the country.

Learn more about the kinds of projects the prize committee is looking for in this fun video:

The 2011 County Health Rankings classified Desoto County as the healthiest county in Mississippi for health outcomes and the fifth-healthiest county for health factors, with lower unemployment rates, higher education rates and greater access to healthy food compared to the rest of the state. Yet much more work needs to be done to improve the health of Desoto County, as one-third of its adults are obese and Mississippi, overall, has the highest obesity rates in the nation.

Led by Mayor Chip Johnson, the city of Hernando, county seat of Desoto County, is now home to the largest farmers’ market in Mississippi and was designated as the Healthiest Hometown in the state in 2010 by the Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi Foundation. Those are significant accomplishments, but Mayor Johnson continues to look for new opportunities to create a healthier community.

>>VIDEO: Watch a video with Mayor Johnson and others on Hernando's efforts to create a healthier community, including revamping city parks, creating community gardens, expanding sidewalks and more.

>>Read more about Hernando and other efforts to improve community health using the County Health Rankings.

>>The 2012 County Health Rankings were released this morning. Follow our coverage here.

The 2012 County Health Rankings, a joint project of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute, were released this morning. For the third year in a row, the reports rank the health of nearly every county in the nation and show that much of what affects health occurs outside of the doctor’s office. The County Health Rankings confirm the critical role that factors such as education, jobs, income and environment play in how healthy people are and how long they live. NewPublicHealth spoke with Patrick Remington, MD, MPH, County Health Rankings Project Director and Associate Dean at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, about this year’s release.

>>Join our Twitter Q&A TODAY, April 3, at 1 p.m. EST, and follow the rest of the NewPublicHealth coverage of the 2012 County Health Rankings launch.

NewPublicHealth: What’s new for the County Health Rankings this year?

Dr. Remington: The County Health Roadmaps are new. The County Health Roadmaps project includes several efforts to build connections with local communities and national partners and leaders, including grants to coalitions across the U.S. that are working to improve the health of people in their communities; grants to national organizations to activate local leaders and affiliates to improve health; a prize program to recognize communities taking action whose promising efforts will likely lead to better health; and tools and resources to help groups working to improve the health of people in their communities.

The County Health Roadmaps is our response to the demand that has arisen by communities to help them find solutions. We were pretty good in the first two years at pointing out problems. Over the last year, we heard loud and clear that’s not good enough to just point out problems. The Roadmap is just one tool. It’s certainly not the automobile; it’s not the vacation plan. It is just a tool that communities need to use to come together and decide where they want to go and the Roadmap can tell you how to get there.

But an even better question is what is the same. We want the County Health Rankings to be an annual check-up that can be counted on by communities to provide residents with a way to compare the health of where they live to other counties in their state. Although we might add a measure or two each year, I think the most important message is that we’ve continued to use the same approach to measure and rank the health of counties.

NPH: What is that approach?