Healthy New Jersey (HNJ) is the overarching initiative that focuses on identifying and addressing New Jersey residents’ priority health needs. 

This is accomplished using two, ongoing statewide collaborative processes coordinated by the New Jersey Department of Health: the State Health Assessment and State Health Improvement Plan. 

HNJ consists of action plans and specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, time-bound (SMART) objectives organized into topic areas designed to serve as the framework for addressing the underlying, contributing factors of health inequities and to improve health and well-being of all people.

It is modeled after the national Healthy People initiative and is entering its fourth decade.

Healthy New Jersey is managed by the Healthy New Jersey Coordinating Committee (HNJCC) at the New Jersey Department of Health (NJDOH).

The development of Healthy New Jersey is a collaborative effort that involves support and guidance from:

• Healthy New Jersey Advisory Council (HNJAC)
• Action Teams (ACT) comprised of subject matter experts at DOH and external stakeholders
• Other New Jersey state departments and agencies
• The general public, through public comment

The NJDOH Center for Health Statistics serves as the Healthy New Jersey data support team.

Targets for the objectives will be set following Healthy People 2030's target-setting guidance and may include:

• Percent improvement
• Percentage point improvement
• Projection
• Minimal statistical significance
• Maintain consistency with national programs, regulations, policies, or laws
• Maintain the baseline

There are lots of ways you can get involved with HNJ!

• Apply to become a HNJ Team Member during one of our recruitment periods.
• For information about how to become involved with Healthy New Jersey efforts in your area, contact your Local Health Department or Governmental Public Health Partnership.
• Encourage your organization to make the HNJ objectives relevant to your areas of influence.
• Become a Healthy People Champion in your area.
• Stay connected with Healthy New Jersey via email updates. 

To find out if someone from DOH is available to speak at your event, contact the team by email using the contact form and selecting Event Speaker as the Subject.  Please be sure to include the following information in your email:

• Your name, organization, and email address
• The date, time, and location of your planned event
• The purpose and theme of your event
• A list of organizations and individuals sponsoring your event

The suggested citation for Healthy New Jersey is:

Healthy New Jersey [Internet]. Trenton, NJ: New Jersey Department of Health [cited [Date URL was accessed]]. Available from: [Specific URL]. 

You can link to and reprint the text on Healthy.NJ.gov without permission as long as you cite Healthy New Jersey. Please note, however, that you may not use our photos or any of the official logos that appear on Healthy.NJ.gov. 

We appreciate you taking the time to properly cite Healthy New Jersey!

The Healthy New Jersey 2020 website will remain active until all data through 2020 have been received, all analyses have been performed, and a final assessment report has been written.  It is anticipated that this will be completed in late 2023.

The State Health Assessment published in 2018 shows the status of objectives as of December 31, 2016.

The current status of objectives is tracked on the HNJ2020 dashboard.

A final assessment is due to be published in late 2023.