I recently came across the Gallup-Sharecare Well-Being Index, and had to check out where my new neighborhood – Wilmington, NC – ranked. The news was grim, but even more disturbing was the decreasing well-being over the past few years. The table below provides the rankings for 2015-17, since earlier reports do not include Wilmington.
Wilmington Well-Being Index Scores
| Measure | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Purpose Ranking | 79 | 175 | 182 |
| Social Ranking | 21 | 114 | 115 |
| Financial Ranking | 65 | 160 | 163 |
| Community Ranking | 48 | 80 | 144 |
| Physical Ranking | 44 | 115 | 66 |
| Overall Ranking | 45 | 122 | 138 |
| Out of | 190 | 189 | 186 |
| WBI Score | 62.7 | 61.3 | 60.6 |
With only three years of data available, the slipping rankings are obvious. In 2015, Wilmington was listed as one of the Top 10 highest well-being small communities. Two years later, the region has slipped to the bottom on all rankings except physical health. The trend lines are headed in the wrong direction.
The most recent data available is from the 2017 report, where Wilmington, NC was listed among the five worst communities for purpose across the country. For this survey, purpose is defined as “liking what you do each day and being motivated to achieve your goals,” and Wilmington ranked 182 out of 186. Despite this being only a single measure in a single survey, one might question if this is an indicator of mental health status within the community. And, earlier research among people in substance abuse treatment indicates that higher levels of purpose led to lower levels of depression. This should be of concern in Wilmington, a city that has been at the top of an opioid addiction report.
While some of the past surveys included questions about healthy eating, diabetes, and obesity, none of those data points were available for all three years. I’m going to be looking at more local health and social determinant data over the next few weeks to see what other tidbits can be uncovered.