Increase the proportion of the voting-age citizens who vote — SDOH‑07 Healthy People in Action

Healthy People 2030 goals and objectives guide the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) throughout the development and implementation of its State Health Improvement Plan. DHS embraces its mission to “protect and promote the health and safety of the people of Wisconsin” and works toward a vision of “everyone living their best life.” Unlike other states with a standalone public health agency, DHS includes public health under its umbrella of programs and services. This brings with it both benefits and challenges.

People need people. We connect with one another as family and friends, through the communities within which we live, in our workplaces, across support networks that stretch beyond our geographic location, and in many other ways that — whether we intend them to or not — help fulfill our fundamental human need to socialize and interact. All these encounters, big and small, add up and reflect an individual’s level of connection with the world — a vital ingredient in developing and maintaining overall health and well-being. This connection is a social imperative that we, both individually and as communities, have come to overlook far too often.

Each year core, developmental, and/or research objectives may be proposed for inclusion in Healthy People 2030. This helps ensure that the initiative remains relevant and reflects current public health priorities throughout the decade. Most recently, ODPHP has recategorized an important research objective to core status: Increase the proportion of the voting-age citizens who vote — SDOH‑07.