To provide a comprehensive online platform for place-based data that influences health outcomes, facilitating public health interventions.
Approach:
Data Visualization: Health Atlas supports data visualization across seven geographic levels, including census tract and county, using publicly available population estimates and expert-driven composite measures.
Data Domains: The platform includes 206 variables across five topical domains: demographics, socioeconomic, neighborhood, environment, and health and health care, modeled after the social determinants of health framework.
Data Sources: Data are curated from public sources such as the American Community Survey, CDC PLACES, and EPA Environmental Justice Screen, ensuring relevance and accessibility.
Key Findings:
Health outcomes are significantly influenced by place-based social determinants independent of individual-level factors.
Neighborhood socioeconomic status correlates with increased rates of heart disease, cancer, and all-cause mortality.
The availability of place-based data has expanded but remains fragmented and inconsistent.
Interpretation:
The Health Atlas serves as a centralized resource to explore and visualize the impact of social and structural determinants on health, addressing gaps in data accessibility.
Limitations:
Data availability varies by geographic level and may not cover all variables uniformly.
Inconsistencies in national data availability due to funding cuts and shifting priorities at federal agencies.
Conclusion:
Health Atlas aims to enhance understanding of health determinants by providing a user-friendly platform for accessing and visualizing relevant data.
by Debora L Oh, Kathryn E Kemper-McIsaac, Dan Meltzer, Eric Brelsford, Kelsey Taylor, Dhananjay Vinay Dixit, Andrea Nickerson, Riya Desai, Salma Shariff-Marco, Courtney Lyles, Scarlett Gomez, Mark J Pletcher, Mindy C DeRouen
