State Health Assessment: Healthy New Jersey 2020 Final Report combines a comprehensive review and analysis of quantitative statewide health data with an extensive analysis of qualitative data collected during interviews and focus groups held during the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of the State Health Assessment (SHA) is to provide a deeper understanding of the health of the state’s residents and identify opportunities for population health improvement.

This report includes a final assessment of 136 health objectives across 20 health topics areas developed in 2010 as Healthy New Jersey 2020.  A target value to be achieved by 2020 was established for each objective and corresponding data were tracked throughout the decade.  Of the 136 targets, 66 (48.5%) were met or exceeded, 31 (22.8%) objectives improved but did not meet their targets, 20 (14.7%) had little or no change, and 19 (14.0%) got worse.  Some of the best performing topic areas were: 

• Cancer
• Environmental Health
• Heart Disease and Stroke
• HIV
• Maternal and Child Health
• Occupational Safety and Health

American Community Survey data from the U.S. Census Bureau and Healthy New Jersey 2020 data were examined by race/ethnicity to better understand health equity.  Although New Jersey is healthier than the United States as a whole for most measures of population health, for nearly every measure of health and well-being as well as social determinants of health, New Jersey’s Black and Hispanic residents tend to have poorer health outcomes and access to health care than its Asian and White residents. Achieving health equity is the main focus of the upcoming New Jersey State Health Improvement Plan, due to be released in 2026. Health equity is also the driving force behind other statewide initiatives such as Nurture New Jersey.

The New Jersey Department of Health and other partners collaborated with the New Jersey YMCA State Alliance on Community Conversations: Pandemic Perspectives, NJ’s COVID-19 Storytelling Project to gather the personal accounts of New Jersey residents – especially those who faced increased marginalization or greater risk because of the pandemic – and transform them into the building blocks of a more resilient, compassionate, and healthy New Jersey.  Three cross-cutting themes emerged from the project:

• Collective isolation and trauma
• Inequality and disparities
• Unpredictability now and into the future

The information presented in this report will be the foundation for the next State Health Improvement Plan (SHIP), which will consist of New Jersey's top public health priorities to be addressed over the next five years. The SHIP is being developed in collaboration with a diverse public partnership of stakeholders across the state, and consist of goals, objectives, and strategies to improve the health of all New Jerseyans. 

Community Assessments (Counties, Hospital Systems, etc.)

Previous State Health Assessments

Healthy People (National)