Local public health information: Who wants to know what?

As public health places greater emphasis on linking clinical and community settings, there will be growing need for local residents and policymakers to understand local public health outcomes and other contextual information. To meet this need, the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) with advice from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH) launched "Our Healthy Massachusetts" (OHM) a public website featuring health-related indicators, spatial data, data explorations, and qualitative data about local programs. This paper reports the result of a survey of users of the OHM website, investigating their motivations, background, and use of the information resources made available. Many of the features on the OHM website are powered by WEAVE (Web-based Analysis and Visualization Environment), a web-based open source data visualization software. All 351 communities in MA have an interactive map of local assets and/or partners in OHM. In addition, each has a listing of specific health programs, health profiles, and data stories. OHM (www.ourhealthymass.org) launched in winter 2013. New features and functionality are planned throughout 2013. A survey instrument is being used to track the motivation and knowledge gained of visitors to OHM. Designed to serve a broad audience, OHM can identify specific user groups and their priorities. Drawing on research about knowledge use in the policymaking process, this paper identifies users seeking information for instrumental, conceptual, and symbolic use. The results can inform the design of new systems seeking to provide information to local public health policymakers.