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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Sandra Ciske, MN, Community Based Public Health Practice, Seattle King County Public Health, 999 Third Avenue, Suite 1200, Seattle, WA 98104, 206-296-2791, sandra.ciske@metrokc.gov and Kathryn J. Horsley, DrPH, Epidemiology, Planning and Evaluation, Public Health - Seattle & King County, WFC #1200, 999 3rd Avenue, Seattle, WA 98104.

Communities Count is a collaborative community indicator initiative of public and private partners in King County Washington that is committed to improving community conditions through information advocacy. Community indicators were selected through a broad and deep community participation process that resulted in a set of indicators of greatest interest to residents of King County. This process affirmed strong public interest in social determinants of health as well as more conventional health indicators. Three Communities Count reports has been released since 2000 that have provided trends in health and well-being of King County residents and communities in six domains: basic needs and social well-being, positive development through life stages, safety and health, community strength, natural and built environment, and arts and culture. The 2005 report provides an in-depth analysis of two areas: housing and homelessness, and early child development. These focus areas evolved as a way to address persistent disparities by income, race/ethnicity and education. The presentation will: 1) provide examples of selected indicators including a new indicator for measuring school readiness at the community level using the Early Development Instrument (EDI), a tool designed to measure school readiness at the population level; 2) present trends in disparities across indicators by income, race/ethnicity and education; 3) describe steps taken to develop a broad funding coalition with public and private partners; and 4) examine how community-level information has been used in King County to inform community and policy level change, philanthropic and corporate investments and government performance measures.

Learning Objectives:

• Articulate rational for involving residents in selecting community indicators.
• Identify ways to engage community and funding partners in the value of tracking indicators over time to promote needed change. 3.Discuss ways to promote use of community indicators to inform community action.

Related Web page: communitiescount.org

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Not Answered

Handout (.ppt format, 6843.0 kb)