![Harry Oxley smiled while speaking to hospice music therapist Sarah Newberry at Epiphany Senior Housing in Coon Rapids. Newberry visits and sings to Oxley on a weekly basis. ] CARLOS GONZALEZ cgonzalez@startribune.com - January 22, 2013, Coon Rapids, Minn., hospice music therapists, They do their work in hospices, and befitting that locale, they aim not to cure dying patients but to soothe and sustain dying patients. But their form of health care is music, of all genres.](https://arc.stimg.co/startribunemedia/EDEHF7PPFBUASJNMP3PPCKCFY4.jpg?&w=1080)
Forget the flight to Snowbird states, Minnesota seniors: It turns out that the healthiest place to grow old is right here.
For the second year in a row, Minnesota came in first in the United Health Foundation ranking of healthiest states for senior citizens.
While its superiority largely reflected health care infrastructure — a high rate of seniors with prescription drug coverage, a sizable supply of home health care workers, and its rates of seniors receiving regular dental care and flu shots — Minnesota also stood out for the vitality of its older citizens.
Nearly 40 percent of Minnesota seniors volunteer — the second highest in the nation — and 68 percent are able-bodied, meaning they have no disabilities, according to the rankings, which were released last week.
"You need quality medical care of course, but there's more to health than what happens at the doctor's office," said Dr. Edward Ehlinger, Minnesota's health commissioner. "Seniors also enjoy health benefits from living in walkable neighborhoods, having access to nutritious food, and having opportunities to participate in their communities."
Ehlinger, 67, embodies that philosophy with regular trips around the state that combine health policy talks with pitching horseshoes.
Minnesota doesn't quite have it all, of course. Beyond the long, cold winters that drive many seniors to warmer climates, the state ranked 23rd for the share of its seniors living in poverty — 8.1 percent. The best state had only 5.4 percent of seniors in poverty.
That disparity showed up in other ways: While nearly 60 percent of seniors with a college education reported good or excellent health in Minnesota, only 25 percent of seniors without high school educations could say the same.
