A new report on the overall health of seniors in the state puts Kentucky at the bottom of the pack.

Compared to other states ranking 48, Kentucky has a high prevalence of seniors who smoke cigarets and live with multiple chronic conditions.

Here's a breakdown of why Kentucky ranks so low and how we can improve.

An in-depth look at senior health in the state shows multiple areas for improvement.

Some of the health issues facing seniors that led to Kentucky's low ranking includes social isolation, insufficient sleep, physical inactivity, depression and anxiety, and teeth extractions.

Doctor Kristen Davis Furman, a geriatrician with U of L health, says these issues aren't new, and they aren't just facing Kentucky.

All the states that had these these low scores are in the same region.

And it's a little bit of the South, you know, and the South has had this for generations, the same issues.

And a lot of it is obesity.

And when you're overweight then you do have heart disease.

You do have lung disease.

And a lot of it is the smoking.

And then it leads to cancer.

And then so it's a combination of things.

Furman says education is a big part of the solution.

Older adults are a key indicator of community health, right.

It's kind of the canary in the coal mine.

And so if you see this report, it helps us fix things across the board.

And you have to start early.

The research shows that if people are educated, just educated school just regular education and high school education, there's less risk of being in prison.

There's less risk of having cancer.

There's less risk of having heart disease or less risk of being overweight just because they understand and they have.

Education is not just ABCs one, two, three.

It teaches you how to be socialized.

You know, it teaches you how to get along with people, which teaches you how to use your community to stay healthy.

It all kind of builds on each other.

Kentucky seniors may not be able to turn back the clock, but there are still steps they can take to get healthier.

It starts at the doctor's office.

You need to go to your primary care physician and our provider.

Sometimes it's a nurse practitioner and ask for an annual wellness visit because it's very specific Medicare.

It's like we've already figured this out.

We don't have to recreate the will.

Medicare has already said these are the things that we need to do, and it's not because they just came up with it.

They came up with it based on evidence over years.

Part of the annual wellness visit is the shots.

Did you get your flu shot?

Did you get your Covid shot?

Did you get your pneumonia shot?

Did you get your shingles shot?

There's a RSV shot.

There's all these shots that keep you healthy.

Did you get all your screenings?

Did you get your colonoscopy?

Did you get your mammogram?

And then they ask you questions like, have you fallen?

And so falls a big risk factor for death.

And so, you know, we want to just not wait.

Something bad happens.

We want to do some preventative stuff.

Fortunately for seniors in the Bluegrass State, a high number of primary care providers was one of Kentucky's strengths.

Cited in a report for Kentucky edition.

I'm Clayton Dalton.

Thank you so much, Clayton.

Although there are many areas for improvement, Kentucky did perform well and flu vaccination rates for seniors.