Data, the Internet and the Work of

Community Workers:

Data “Fishing” to Save Lives!

Jonathan NomachiCommunity Health Councils

December 3, 2010

Workshop Objectives

• Provide an overview of identifying reliable data sources from the internet

• Provide an overview of HealthyCity.org website

• Provide interactive session that utilizes real life examples from the audience

Community Health Councils

• Los Angeles based, non-profit organization since 1992.

• Health promotion, policy advocacy.• Mission to improve health; increase access to

quality healthcare of uninsured and undeserved populations.

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention REACH U.S. grantee.

Finding Data on the Internet can be EITHER….

Keys to Successful Data Fishing

• Ask the right questions• Be Patient• Be Creative• LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION

Asking the Right Question Exercise

• What are some data questions that you ask to assist in your work as a Community Health Worker?

• What is the prevalence of diabetes in Los Angeles County?• Is this question sufficient?

Asking the Right Question Exercise

• What is the prevalence of diabetes in South Los Angeles?

• What is South Los Angeles? • Who in South Los Angeles are you talking

about?• Are there other factors that could be used

instead of “diabetes?”

Asking the Right Question Exercise

• Demographics of your population– Race, Gender, Age, Education

• Geography of your population– Zip code, Service Planning Area

• Are there other factors that could answer your first question?

Where to begin looking for secondary data?

• Google.com/Google Scholar– Not just first ‘hit’

• Newspaper articles/journals• Organizations like CHC and HEAC• Internet Sources like:

– LA County Health Survey– AskCHIS– American Factfinder– Nutrition Network GIS– Healthy City GIS– Children’s Planning Council– California Department of Education

Sometimes you can tell the source by looking at the following web address.

HUH? The problem of using internet search engines to find data…GO LAKERS!!!

TIME TO FISH!!!

Helpful Words in Data Fishing

• “Data”; “Statistics”; “Rate”• “in Los Angeles”; “in California”; “in

South Los Angeles”• “Mortality”; “prevalence”

• E.G. “Uninsurance Rates in South Los Angeles”

Questions?

• Feel free to contact me at:

• Jonathan Nomachi• Community Health Councils

• 323.295.9372• jonathan@chc-inc.org

A Resource for all of A Resource for all of California California

Information + action for social change

A National civil rights POLICY/ ACTION TANK

Healthy City is a project of…

Who is Healthy City?

Healthy City is an information + action resource

that unites

rigorous research, community voices

and innovative technologies to solve the root causes of social inequity

What Does HC Do?• Data & Technology: Data, maps, and service

referral through our easy to use online platform HealthyCity.org

• Technical Assistance: Work ON-THE-GROUND to develop targeted research/policy strategies and web tools

• Community Research Lab: engages, trains, and provides tools for CBO’s to lead and sustain research.

Partners

Use HealthyCity.org to:

• Find services

• Conduct Research

• Share your community’s story

Anywhere in California!

…to fuel social change and improve our communities

HealthyCity.org

Website

Service Provider

Case Manager

Policy Advocate

Funder

Community Organizer

Researcher

Who Uses HealthyCity.org?

Grant Writer

What’s on HealthyCity.org?

Data, data, data

“Point” Data

Point data = information

about a location

Social Service data from 2-1-1

Over 30,000Service sites across California

(Includes: Basic Needs, Legal Services, Education, Health Care, Employment, and

many other Community Services)

Name SourceSocial Services 211s

Nonprofits IRS 990 Center for Nonprofit Management in Southern California

Schools Public & Private California Department of Edaucation

WIC Agencies & Vendors Network for a Healthy California

Hospitals (OSHPD) OSHPD

Head Start Agencies California Head Start Association

Child Care Department of Social Services Community Care Licensing Division

Alcohol Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control

EPA Environmental Protection Agency

Grocery DeLormeFQHC U.S. Department of Health and Human

Services Health Resources and Services Administration

Banks DeLormeCheck Cashing Businesses DeLorme

Services & Points

“Thematic” Data

Census Boundaries

ZIP codes

Political Jurisdictions

Community Data

Over 2500 variables

Multiple years of data

More datasets coming soon

You can save and share anything you

create while logged in

GET STARTED!

A case manager in Fresno is looking for food and shelter options for a client.

They live in ZIP code 93710

You can browse service

categories or

search by keyword

List the services ONLY within the

area you’ve selected

SAVE this list for future reference

EMAIL a link to this list of services

PRINT list of services

View services on a map

Extensive School Data

View Student Body

Demographics, API scores,

Fitness Results and more

Go Live!

Try it on HealthyCity.org

Resource Guides Available:

Click on • Service Categories

Grab a quick stat, or compare your area of interest to other geographies

Infant Birth Weight, 2008

90062

Removals by Age, 2008

90062

Out of Home Placement by Type , 2008

90062

Rank indicators by Geography:

Where are the areas that have the highest percentage of people without health insurance?

Go Live!

Try it on HealthyCity.org

Click on Change to select your area of

interest

Where are there WIC agencies & vendors in my neighborhood? (ZIP 90302)

Where are there families of poverty in Oakland?

Are there resources in these high need areas?

Click the +- buttons to add

Data to your map

Find local support services

Create a list of services to add to

your map

Identify gaps in services

Find out more information about this

area

Work with elected officials to advocate for

services

Go Live!

Try it on HealthyCity.org

Add boundary labels like ZIP or city

Compare two geographies

CUSTOMIZE your map:

Change the display of data

Other Map Room Features

You can also print, save & email your map AND view the data on a chart

Learn about our data sources

You can save and share anything you

create while logged in

GET STARTED!

Thank You!