According to a study, Arkansas is 44th in the nation for senior health and well-being

Little Rock, Arkansas – According to national research, Arkansas is among the least healthy and well-off states for older adults.

In its annual Senior Report, the United Health Foundation placed the state 44th overall. To generate its rating, the study analyzed 52 metrics from 22 sources of data.

Arkansas had “challenges,” as the researchers put it, in a number of areas. The state’s low ranking was caused by factors like a high frequency of physical inactivity, a low percentage of homes with high-speed internet, and a high early death rate.

Other variables mentioned in the research included a 28% drop in home healthcare employees in Arkansas since 2017 despite an increase in home healthcare workers nationwide.

The obesity rate in the state has increased by 21% during 2016, according to the authors.

The study’s authors note that the Natural State has a low prevalence of heavy drinking, a high rate of geriatric providers, and a low prevalence of severe housing problems.

Despite receiving poor grades overall for high-speed internet access, Arkansas’s ranking in the survey was enhanced by the fact that households there have seen a 9% growth in high-speed internet since 2019.

The death rate for older Americans increased for the second year in a row, breaking a long-term trend of improvement since 2019, according to the study’s authors, who also noted a 22% increase in deaths among people aged 65 to 74. Opioids were noted in this article as a contributing factor to the rising death rate.

According to the survey, Utah, followed by New Hampshire, is the state with the best overall health for senior citizens. Mississippi, a state that borders Arkansas, came in last in the research, followed by Louisiana.