Fostering community engagement using technology for easier access to and better understanding of public health HIV data

Background Dissemination of public health data can be challenging. The San Francisco Department of Public Health publishes detailed annual reports on the local HIV epidemic. New technologies provide opportunities to supplement these with simple online tools for visual exploration of data. We piloted an interactive portal for local HIV surveillance data in order to broaden the ability of individuals without statistical expertise to engage with these data.

Methods We extracted routinely collected San Francisco HIV surveillance data from publically available reports. We used open-source technology to generate a novel internet interface for exploring these data. The project is a presentation of de-identified data, rather than a database query interface.

Results We created an internet site for visualizing dynamic bar charts of age, gender, race/ethnicity and behavioral risk category data for prevalent and newly reported HIV cases in San Francisco. The site also compares local, state, and national data on burden of HIV disease. Our tool allows users to electronically submit comments on surveillance data and share those comments.

Conclusion Our interactive internet site is a pilot effort to engage community and disseminate information more effectively. We plan to expand the capabilities of this site and evaluate similar projects. To evaluate our pilot against the traditional report, we will measure click through rates and returning visitors. Additionally, we will compare engagement between DPH staff versus non-DPH community members by tracking users' IP-address. New methods of disseminating public health data require the development of best practices and strategies to ensure sustainability.