Objectives, Strategies & Actions


Once the Healthy Alaskans Advisory Team selected the priority health topics and objectives for the Healthy Alaskans 2030 (HA2030) plan, workgroups focused on choosing evidence based strategies and actions for each health objective. These workgroups were composed of subject matter experts who gave input from their professional experience, reviewed data sources, and considered health improvement evidence based strategies and local practices for consideration and inclusion in the HA2030 plan.

Experts from the State of Alaska and ANTHC meet to discuss strategies for objective 3: water fluoridation

Initial criteria were set by the HA teams to help make the difficult decisions necessary to choose the top 30 health objectives for HA2030. First, the decision was made to keep the format and framework the same as 2020. Next, the team determined that this number of objectives was manageable yet some contained sub-objectives that created data presentation challenges. The team ultimately chose 30 objectives with no sub-objectives. The teams engaged in the process to review and evaluate the 2020 Leading Health Indicator and progress, the State Health Assessment data and the Community Capacity Review to guide the team to decisions on the priority health topics and concerns in keeping with the HA guiding principles and aligning with healthy people when possible.

These decisions were all made pre-covid and the need to reevaluate in relation to Covid and health equity impacts was obvious in 2021. At that time, subject matter and data experts began a brief review process to note these impacts and make recommendations for revisions to the strategies and actions as needed. As of January 2022, those revisions are in review and will be updated to the plan as soon as final edits and approvals are complete.

Each strategy contains tangible action steps that can be adopted by organizations, communities and entities across the state who are invested in achieving the 2030 targets. See the full list of strategies, action steps, and partners by clicking on a specific health objective below:

Chronic Disease
  1. Reduce the cancer mortality rate per 100,000 population
Environmental Health
  1. Increase the percentage of rural community housing units with water and sewer services
  2. Increase the percentage of the Alaskan population served by community water systems with optimally fluoridated water
Healthcare Access
  1. Increase the proportion of women who receive prenatal care beginning in the first trimester.
  2. Reduce the percentage of adults (aged 18 years and older) reporting that they could not afford to see a doctor in the last 12 months
  3. Reduce the rate of preventable hospitalizations per 1,000 adults (hospitalizations that could have been prevented with high quality primary and preventive care) based on the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) definition
  4. Increase the percentage of 3-year-olds who have had a well-child checkup in the last 12 months
  5. Reduce the percentage of the population without health insurance
Healthy Weight
  1. Increase the percentage of children (students in grades K-8) who meet criteria for healthy weight
Infectious Disease
  1. Increase the vaccination coverage level of 4 doses of diphtheria-tetanus-acellular pertussis (DTaP) vaccine among children by age 2 years
  2. Reduce the incidence rate of gonorrhea per 100,000 population
Injury Prevention
  1. Reduce the unintentional injury mortality rate per 100,000 population
Mental Health
  1. Reduce the percentage of adolescents (high school students in grades 9-12) who felt so sad or hopeless every day for 2 weeks or more in a row that they stopped doing some usual activities during the past 12 months
  2. Reduce the mean number of days in the past 30 days adults (aged 18 years and older) report being mentally unhealthy
Nutrition
  1. Reduce the percentage of 3-year-olds who drink any sugary drinks on a given day
Physical Activity
  1. Increase the percentage of adolescents (high school students in grades 9-12) who meet the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans (2008 US DHHS Physical Activity Guidelines: adolescents who do at least 60 minutes of physical activity a day, every day of the week)
Protective Factors
  1. Increase the percentage of adolescents (high school students in grades 9-12) with 3 or more adults (besides their parent(s)) who they feel comfortable seeking help from
  2. Increase the percentage of adolescents (high school students in grades 9-12) who feel like they matter to people in their community
Social Determinants of Health
  1. Increase the percent of high school students who graduate within 4 years of starting 9th grade
  2. Reduce the percentage of rental occupied households that exceed 50 percent of household income dedicated to housing
  3. Increase the percentage of residents (all ages) living above the federal poverty level (as defined for AK)
Substance Misuse
  1. Reduce the alcohol-induced mortality rate per 100,000
  2. Reduce the drug-induced mortality rate per 100,000
  3. Reduce the percentage of adults needing but not receiving substance use disorder treatment
Suicide Prevention
  1. Reduce the suicide mortality rate per 100,000 population
Tobacco Use
  1. Reduce the percentage of adolescents (high school students in grades 9-12) who have used electronic vapor products, cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, or other tobacco products in the last 30 days
  2. Reduce the percentage of adults (aged 18 and older) who currently smoke cigarettes or use electronic vapor products, smokeless tobacco, or other tobacco products
Violence Prevention
  1. Reduce the percentage of repeated substantiated child maltreatment within last 12 months
  2. Reduce the rate of reported or attempted rape per 100,000 population
  3. Reduce the percentage of adolescents (high school students in grades 9-12) who were ever hit, slammed into something, injured with an object or weapon, or physically hurt on purpose by someone they were dating or going out with during the past 12 months

Most of the strategies outlined in the Healthy Alaskans 2030 plan are aligned with health topic specific statewide plans, programs and organizations, which are as follows:

News Bulletins

PDFs now available for 2024 scorecards

May 6, 2025

Healthy Alaskans releases first set of 2030 health improvement scorecards, issues final report, scorecards from 2020 plan

January 31, 2023

Healthy Alaskans releases scorecards assessing Alaska’s health progress for 2020 and a health improvement plan for 2030 that sets goals for the next decade

February 4, 2021

State Health Improvement Plan, Healthy Alaskans 2030 (HA2030), Draft for Public Comment Released

August 5, 2020

Healthy Alaskans 2030 Sets Framework for Alaska’s Health Goals; Strengthening communities and empowering individuals

January 22, 2020