The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #62257

Alan Melnick, MD, MPH, Family Medicine, Oregon Health & Science University, 3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Road, Portland, OR 97239, (503) 494-0756, melnicka@ohsu.edu

Although local and state governments routinely collect health data, communities rarely use these data for a couple of reasons. Because many different agencies maintain data in different formats at the local, state and federal level, they are not available in one convenient, accessible location. In addition, counties often contain many diverse communities whose borders do not coincide with other political boundaries and whose characteristics are not captured accurately by summaries based on these boundaries. Data presented at the county and state level fail to address these concerns and consequently are not useful for community health assessment and planning. The Community Health Improvement Mapping Engine (CHiME) is a user-friendly, internet-based geographic information systems application designed to overcome these problems, allowing communities to use health data to make improvements in well being. Using readily available data, such as vital statistics, census data, notifiable disease reports, WIC data, immunization and cancer registry data, Medicaid data and primary care clinic data, CHiME can analyze and map health conditions at the neighborhood level, defined by high school attendance area. Health indicators include teen birth rates, prenatal care adequacy, communicable disease incidence, proportion of breast and colorectal cancer cases diagnosed early or late, utilization of and access to primary care, proportion of women on WIC breast feeding and immunization rates. CHiME contains safeguards to protect confidentiality and prevent misinterpretation of results. The session will include a discussion on how Clackamas County Public Health and its partners can use CHiME to improve community health status.

Learning Objectives:

• At the conclusion of the session, the participant (learner) in this session will be able to:
• 1.List sources of data available for community health assessment and planning
• 2.Describe how to obtain these data and incorporate them into a geographic information systems application
• 3.Describe how public health agencies and community partners can use geographic information systems technology to assess health conditions, target resources and evaluate health improvement programs at the community level
• 4.Discuss how to avoid potential pitfalls associated with the use of geographic information systems technology, including violations of confidentiality and misinterpretation of results

Keywords: Geographic Information Systems, Community Health Planning

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI); Clackamas County Public Health Division
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.