244556 Place Matters for Health: Using Locally-Tailored Community Health Equity Reports to Compel Action to Eliminate Health Inequities

Monday, October 31, 2011: 11:10 AM

Brian Smedley, PhD , Health Policy Institute, Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, Washington, DC, DC
Michael Scott , Equity Matters, Equity Matters, Inc., Baltimore, MD
Kitty Richards , Bernallilo County, Office of Environmental Health, Albuquerque, NM
John A. Capitman, PhD , California State University-Fresno, Central Valley Health Policy Institute, Fresno, CA
Felecia Eaves , Health Policy Institute, Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, Washington, DC
Jermane Bond, PhD , Health Policy Institute, Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, Washimgton, DC
The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies proposes a panel presentation and discussion to illustrate how locally-tailored Community Health Equity Reports (CHERs) can illuminate the relationship between place and health, and point to policy solutions that reduce the concentration of health risks in communities of color. With support from a grant from the National Institutes of Health, the Joint Center, working with research partners at the Virginia Commonwealth University Center on Human Needs, the Virginia Network for Geospatial Health Research, and the Joint Center's PLACE MATTERS teams, created a series of CHERs that examine the relationship between neighborhood-level demographics, health risks and resources, and health status. The CHERs revealed striking inequality in health status based on neighborhood. For example, in Bernalillo County, New Mexico, our research identified a 28-year variation in life expectancy across census tracts. In Boston, there is a differential life expectancy of 33 years between census tracts 2 miles apart, with a low of 58.9 years in Northern Roxbury compared to a high of 91.9 in Western Back Bay. In Orleans Parish (New Orleans), there is a 25.5-year disparity in life expectancy between zip codes. This panel presentation will feature the researchers who compiled and analyzed the data, as well as PLACE MATTERS' community partners who identified the key research questions and are using the reports to raise awareness of geographic inequities and push for policy solutions.

Learning Areas:
Administer health education strategies, interventions and programs
Other professions or practice related to public health
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs
Protection of the public in relation to communicable diseases including prevention or control
Public health or related education
Public health or related research

Learning Objectives:
1)Identify the relationship between community health status and community conditions; 2)Assess the distribution of health risks and resources in communities, and identify their relationship to community demographic composition; 3)Provide an evidence-based strategy for identifying areas of extreme distress and tracking progress over time in addressing health inequities.

Keywords: Community, Health Disparities

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I helped the presenters develop research questions and interpret findings.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.