Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #110895

Daniel J. Friedman, PhD, Population and Public Health Information, 12 Gorham Ave., Brookline, MA 02445, 617-797-6710, danieljfriedman@verizon.net

Web-based data dissemination systems (WDDS) are being developed in the U.S. and other nations at national and sub-national levels. In the U.S., WDDSs are available at the federal, state, and county levels. WDDSs typically provide users with: free public access through a single Web portal to a wide variety of population health data sets; flexible query capacity enabling selection of data for specific states, cities, towns, and neighborhoods; selection of analysis for specific health-related variables by data year, age, gender, race/ethnicity, and other factors; calculation of multiple statistics; and data graphing and mapping options.

WDDSs are typically directed to several target user communities, including community groups, health care providers, and public health agency staff. WDDSs are designed and used for community assessments, health impact analyses, program targeting and evaluation, and monitoring. They represent a democratization of the use of public health data, enabling flexible and direct use of of data by community groups and individuals who are not public health professionals.

This presentation will draw upon the results of a meeting of 6 states with especially advanced WDDSs, which was sponsored by CDC and the National Association of Public Health Statistics and Information Systems. The presentation will: (a) provide an overview of the current status of WDDSs in the U.S. and their common features, and (b) offer recommendations for future WDDS development, relating to new uses, functions, interfaces, components, architectures, and data sets. The focus of the presentation will be on WDDS concepts and content, not on WDDS technology.

Learning Objectives: