Virginia ranks 15th in study of well-being of Americans

Va. ranks 15th in well-being in U.S. A 25-year project is tracking the emotional, economic and physical health of Americans

Virginia ranks 15th overall in the nation in a 2008 analysis that maps the well-being of Americans, according to a study released this week.

Well-being is highest in Utah, Hawaii and Wyoming and lowest in West Virginia, Kentucky and Mississippi.

The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index for 2008 is based on 1,000 surveys conducted per day for 350 days. Daily surveys will continue in 2009 and be available to policymakers, community leaders, employers and others.

Dr. Jim Harter, the study's chief scientist, said Tuesday during a news conference in Washington that the 25-year project will help track the physical, emotional and economic well-being of Americans and help influence change across the nation.

Among the findings for Virginians in the survey's six major interview categories:

Life evaluation: When it comes to our present life conditions compared with our expectations for the next five years, Virginia ranked 10th out of 50, its highest ranking in the survey's categories.

Bonnie Miller, a founder of The BrownMiller Group in Richmond, has worked in career counseling for more than 25 years.

The advice she offers clients is to "understand what you can and can't control."

With the economy struggling, Miller impresses upon her clients that goals still are reachable and for people "not to be impatient. They can do the things they want, but it may take longer or they may have to work a little harder."

But in the end, it all has an effect on a person's well-being.

Judy Harrison, a life coach in Midlothian who specializes in coaching women, tells clients they should live in the present and at the same time set themselves up for success in the future. She also advises not to let negative thoughts drag them down.

Harrison tells clients to use a visual board of what they want in the future, including lifestyle and career, using "pictures or words that have meaning to them" to help reach what they envision.

Emotional health: When it comes to how we feel from the beginning of the day to the end, Virginia ranked 19th out of 50.

"Everywhere I go, whether it's work or anywhere else, I'm hearing stories about people who are being impacted," said Melissa Jones, president of the Richmond Human Resources Management Association. "I think the troubles you worry about in the evening come in to work with you."

Harrison said taking care of mental and physical well-being go hand-in-hand: If stressors begin to affect mental well-being, it manifests in the physical body.

Work environment: When it comes to being satisfied at work, Virginia ranked 28th of 50. Based on the survey, 50.7 percent of Virginians have a quality work environment. Utah, which had the highest rate of satisfaction, came in at 58.5 percent, while the lowest, Hawaii, scored 46.7 percent.

Surveyors asked questions relating to job satisfaction, interaction with supervisors and work environment and then assigned scores based on the answers.

"Probably the economy will have some impact, but not any great amount," said Robert Trumble, professor of management and director of Virginia Commonwealth University's Virginia Labor Studies Center.

"Most people are probably going to persuade themselves that it probably isn't too bad. 'One, I've got a job, and, two, I'm not going to retire.'"

Trumble said he wasn't surprised that Virginia came in around the middle because the state's size, income and education figures typically fall that way when compared with other states.

Physical health and healthy behaviors: When it comes to our physical health, Virginia ranked 21st out of 50, and in healthy behaviors, the state ranked 24th out of 50.

Widespread concern about the economy and quality of life is taking a physical and emotional toll on Virginians.

"My assessment is that people are really struggling," said Dr. Martin Buxton, chief of psychiatry at the Tucker Pavilion at CJW Medical Center's Chippenham campus. "I don't see a patient who doesn't worry about the economy or the impact on their job or their spouse's jobs or retirement.

"I had a patient who came in for a lung transplant and his savings had been wiped out."

The Center of Integrative Medicine in Richmond specializes in treating the entire person -- not just the body but the mind, emotions and spiritual health. One doctor there also is seeing a marked increase in stress-related symptoms.

"I think it depends on where a person's vulnerable place is," the center's Dr. Nancy Powell said. "Some people have a physical vulnerable place where, if they are more stressed, that is where it is going to show. They may get more backaches, they may get more migraines, asthma may flare up, they may have more stomach problems, such as ulcers.

"For other people, it may show up more in their emotional self. They may find that they are crying more often, that they have more of a feeling of anxiety or doom or depression or despondency.

"And certainly on a spiritual level, people can feel in many personal ways a reaction in whatever their relation to a spirit is."

However, Madge Zacharias of the Zacharias Ganey Health Institute in Richmond said she is not seeing an increase in such stress-related symptoms as high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity and metabolic syndrome.

"I thought we would. Instead, what we are seeing a lot more of is a renewed interest in health. People feel so out of control in their finances. . . . They are looking into this as the one thing that they can control," Zacharias said.

Basic access: When it comes to our access to food, shelter and health care, and their satisfaction with where they are living, Virginians ranked 17th out of 50.

Contact Dan Neman at (804) 649-6408 or .

Staff writers Emily C. Dooley, Jeremy Slayton and Holly Prestidge contributed to this report.