Using Facts Matter to Map Mental Health Status in Greater Cincinnati

In recognition of National Prevention Week, we are drawing attention to health issues related to substance abuse and prevention. National Prevention Week is an annual health observance designed to increase public awareness of, and action around, substance abuse and mental health issues. This year's theme is: "Your voice. Your choice. Make a difference."

Facts Matter is a data portal created by HealthLandscape and funded by the United Way of Greater Cincinnati, The Greater Cincinnati Foundation, The Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati, and the Haile/U.S. Bank Foundation to support the region's collective impact efforts. Multiple organizations contribute indicator data, which can be displayed at the county, tract, or neighborhood level.

The map below shows the region's mental health status. Data comes from the Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati/Greater Cincinnati Community Health Status Survey and reflects the quality of life or function as influenced by mental conditions.

Facts Matter map view. Darker shading represents better mental health status.

Mapped data can also be shown in a chart or graph:

Facts Matter chart view.

Facts Matter graph view.

Is your community following the community impact model to promote change and well-being? What tools are you using to collect and share local data? Post a comment below to join the conversation.

HealthLandscape data portals like Facts Matter are deployed nationwide and internationally. They can display any kind of population data: community health needs assessment data, community benefits data, hospital quality and population data, educational readiness data, and more. If you would like to learn how your organization can get a data portal up and running in your community, please contact us at 513.458.6722 or send an email to info@healthlandscape.org. You can also sign up for a "Community Indicator Data Portal" webinar at www.HealthLandscape.org.

Comparing Levels of Social-Emotional Support with Suicide Rates in Greater Cincinnati

In recognition of National Prevention Week, we are drawing attention to health issues related to substance abuse and prevention. National Prevention Week is an annual health observance designed to increase public awareness of, and action around, substance abuse and mental health issues. This year's theme is: "Your voice. Your choice. Make a difference."

The Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) collects state data about U.S. residents regarding their health-related risk behaviors, chronic health conditions, and use of preventive services. Persons 18 years of age and older are contacted via telephone and surveyed using a standard core questionnaire, and may be asked additional optional or state-specific questions.

The map below is based on the BRFSS question: "How often do you get the social and emotional support you need?" Persons were considered to be receiving sufficient emotional/social support if they reported getting social/emotional support all or most of the time. Darker shading represents higher levels of social/emotional support. (Data is from 2006-2010.)

The second map shows the number of deaths due to suicide per 100,000 population (2005-2009). Data is from the National Vital Statistics System (NVSS). In the United States, decisions about whether deaths are listed as suicides on death certificates are usually made by a coroner or medical examiner. The definition of suicide is "death arising from an act inflicted upon oneself with the intent to kill oneself."

What questions come to mind when you compare the two maps? Could there be some relationship between the level of social/emotional support and the number of deaths due to suicide? Post a comment below to join the conversation. 

Additional BRFSS and NVSS data is available using the Community HealthView tool in HealthLandscape. Go to www.HealthLandscape.org to register for a free account or to sign up for a free "Introduction to HealthLandscape" webinar.

Mapping Binge Drinking in the Cincinnati Region

In recognition of National Prevention Week, we are drawing attention to health issues related to substance abuse and prevention. National Prevention Week is an annual health observance designed to increase public awareness of, and action around, substance abuse and mental health issues. This year's theme is: "Your voice. Your choice. Make a difference."

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) publishes the locations of substance abuse and mental health treatment centers. We have incorporated a SAMHSA Facility Mapper tool into HealthLandscape to help individuals and community agencies locate treatment centers, and to enable agencies to overlay SAMHSA site data with other population characteristics in their region.

For example, the map below shows SAMHSA facilities in Greater Cincinnati. The legend identifies whether the facility's focus is on substance abuse, mental health and substance abuse (some mental health disorders such as depression and anxiety can also occur in people who abuse alcohol), or some other form of treatment.

Basic information about each center (name, address, type of care, web site if available, and form of payment assistance) is shown in the tooltip, which appears when you click on one of the site locators.

The map also shows rates of binge drinking among adults 18 years of age and older in Greater Cincinnati who responded to the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) question: "Considering all types of alcoholic beverages, how many times during the past 30 days did you have [5 for men, 4 for women] or more drinks on an occasion?"

HealthLandscape has data for SAMHSA facilities nationwide. To access the SAMHSA Facility Mapper:

1. Log on to www.HealthLandscape.org (registration is free).
2. Select SAMHSA Facility Mapper under the Tools menu.
3. Use the Zoom feature to locate a facility in your area of interest.

Are there collaborative efforts in your community to address alcohol abuse and dependence issues? How are you using data to advance your mission? Post a comment below to join the conversation.

Mapping Drug Poisoning Deaths in Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana

In recognition of National Prevention Week, we are drawing attention to health issues related to substance abuse and prevention. National Prevention Week is an annual health observance designed to increase public awareness of, and action around, substance abuse and mental health issues. This year's theme is: "Your voice. Your choice. Make a difference."

Drug poisoning is the most frequent type of poisoning that occurs in the United States. In fact, since 2009, more people have died each year from drug poisoning than from motor vehicle crashes.

Drug poisoning deaths can result from unintentional or intentional overdoses of a drug, being given the wrong drug, taking the wrong drug in error, or taking a drug inadvertently. Prescription, illicit, and over-the-counter medications are included in drug poisoning statistics.

In 2010, the age-adjusted drug poisoning death rate for the United States was 12.3 deaths per 100,000 population. Deaths per 100,000 population varied by state, with Ohio (16.1), Kentucky (23.6), and Indiana (14.4) higher than the national rate.

The map below shows the prevalence of drug poisoning deaths per 100,000 population in Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana (2006-2010). Darker colors represent higher death rates. Areas with no shading or borders represent counties for which data is not available.

How is your community handling the challenges associated with drug poisoning? What evidence-based best practices can you suggest to reduce the number of drug poisoning deaths? Post a comment below to join the conversation.

Map is based on data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Vital Statistics System data. This and other CDC data sets are available in HealthLandscape's Community HealthView data library.

Other sources include the CDC National Center for Health Statistics Data on Drug Poisoning Deaths Fact Sheet and data from the National Vital Statistics System, 2010.

Mapping Tobacco Use in Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana

In recognition of National Prevention Week, we are drawing attention to health issues related to substance abuse and prevention. National Prevention Week is an annual health observance designed to increase public awareness of, and action around, substance abuse and mental health issues. This year's theme is: "Your voice. Your choice. Make a difference."

Smoking is the nation's largest preventable cause of disease and death. Approximately one in four Americans (68 million people) uses a tobacco product. Most tobacco users smoke cigarettes, and millions of other people also use other types of tobacco, such as cigars, chewing tobacco, and snuff.

The maps below show the prevalence of smoking among people 18 years of age and older in Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana (2006-2010).

The first one, called a thematic map, shows the rates of smoking in each county. Darker colors represent higher rates of smoking.

The second one, called a threshold map, shows all counties in Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana in which 25 percent or more of the population smokes.

Are you trying to prevent and reduce smoking in your community? If so, log on to HealthLandscape to access the data sets shown above, as well as thousands of other indicators. Simply go to www.HealthLandscape.org to register for a free account and begin using it today!

Maps are based on Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) data. This and other BRFSS data sets are available in HealthLandscape's Community HealthView data library.

Other sources include the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration National Prevention Week Participant Toolkit.

HealthLandscape Helps Launch Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky's Go to the Source! Webinar Series for Data Users

The Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky has a new webinar series for data users called Go to the Source! We were honored to be the first presenter for the series.

Health Informatics Specialist Jené Grandmont gave an overview of geographic information systems (GIS) terminology as well as a demonstration of HealthLandscape's QuickMaps, QuickGeocodes, and QuickThemes tools. You can view her entire presentation here:

The Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky is a fantastic source of health information data for Kentuckians. The Foundation partners with The Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati to conduct the annual Kentucky Health Issues Poll (click here to download results), and also conducts surveys and other targeted research initiatives.

The Go to the Source! webinar series is designed to introduce researchers, epidemiologists, grant writers, community benefit specialists, and others who use health data to key health data tools and resources that are available for Kentucky. Upcoming webinars include:

• May 14: Kentucky Medicaid Pharmaceutical Utilization Guide (Michael Childress, Research Associate, University of Kentucky)
• May 21: Kentucky Health Issues Poll and OASIS (Jennifer Chubinski, Director of Community Research, Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati, and Mark Carrozza, Health Informatics Developer, HealthLandscape)
• June 11: Kentucky State Data Center (Michael Price, State Demographer, Kentucky State Data Center)
• July 9: Kentucky Parent Survey (Sarah Walsh, Knowledge Officer, Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky)
• July 16: KIDS COUNT Data Center 2.0 (Amy Swann, Senior Policy Analyst, Kentucky Youth Advocates)

Sign up for the webinars at Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky's Events, Workshops, and Webinars page.