Three Reasons Interactive GIS Data Visualizations Get Your Message Across Faster

Last week, we were among the featured innovators at an event that brought together emerging life science companies, prospective investors, policymakers, and other people who want to significantly improve health in the Greater Cincinnati region.

We set up in a beautifully appointed conference room and began rolling a video that highlighted several of the HealthLandscape tools on a giant LED monitor. Our presentation commanded the audience's attention.

Why? What was so compelling about these interactive maps?

We noticed that almost every person who stepped into the room engaged with what they were seeing in the same three ways:

They immediately had a frame of reference.

What did they look for first? Their neighborhood. Their community. Their landmarks. They quickly found where they belonged, and shifted their focus to the data we were presenting. We didn't have to spend time setting up the context. They already had it.

They immediately began looking for patterns.

People began asking questions and making observations: Why are so many clustered in that area? What does that shading represent? That's not what I would have expected there. I'm surprised that number isn't higher. People quickly began trying to make sense of the complex data. Seeing the data geographically energized and engaged them.

They immediately wanted to take the data further.

Once the initial observations were made, the audience wanted to dig deeper. They wanted to find meaning in the data. They wanted to not just observe a pattern but also understand why the pattern might be occurring. Is there a high level of unemployment in that area? What about poverty? Does that cluster of people with severe heart disease have access to a hospital? Because of HealthLandscape's interactive design and full library of community data, their questions could be addressed as their mental wheels were turning, while they were beginning to imagine ways to meet the identified need.

Our minds process visual information more quickly than textual information. One writer demonstrates this by placing a drawing of a circle next to a paragraph of text that gives a definition of a circle. Which do you have to work harder to understand: the image or the definition? And which will you remember?

Which do you understand more quickly--the map or the table? Both show the same data.

While any visualization has the potential to be "sticky," GIS visualizations go one step further because viewers have the potential to make a personal connection with the data. Your audience, whether it is a community of care providers, policymakers, funders, or the very people you serve, look for where they are in relation to the data, and ask, "How does this affect me?"

To learn more about HealthLandscape's interactive GIS data visualizations, attend one of our regularly scheduled webinars:

The Community Data Portal

In-depth demonstrations of our award-winning data dissemination tool
Thursday, October 3, 2:00 pm ET

Introduction to HealthLandscape

In-depth instruction on using HealthLandscape, our free online mapping tool and data library
Tuesday, October 8, 2:00 pm ET

Visualizing Data with HealthLandscape

Overview of all of our data visualization tools, including the Site Performance Explorer
Tuesday, October 22, 2:00 pm ET

 

How Are You Measuring Health Promotion in Your Region?

How do you measure health promotion activities in your region? What performance indicators show that your health promotion efforts are producing results?

We're curious because one of our partner organizations, The Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati,* has shifted its strategic direction away from access to care and toward health promotion. Now called Interact for Health, the organization's primary focus is on:

• Healthy eating
• Active living
• Mental and emotional well-being
• Healthy choices about substance use

Interact for Health has organized its new strategy around the National Prevention Council's National Prevention Strategy. In Appendix 2, the document lists categories of key indicators, including:

• Goal indicators
• Leading causes of death
• Healthy and safe community environments
• Clinical and community preventive services
• Empowered people
• Elimination of health disparities
• Tobacco-free living
• Preventing drug abuse and excessive alcohol use
• Healthy eating
• Active living
• Injury and violence-free living
• Reproductive and sexual health
• Mental and emotional well-being

Many of the data sets that match the key indicators listed in the National Prevention Strategy are included in HealthLandscape's Community HealthView tool, which is easily accessible, free, and ready to use. To learn how to access data in Community HealthView, click the link below to sign up for an Introduction to HealthLandscape webinar.

How are you measuring health promotion? What's working for you?

*HealthLandscape, LLC is a partnership of Interact for Health and the American Academy of Family Physicians' Robert Graham Center.

7 Ways Data Sharing Can Make Your Organization Stronger

Sharing data with your community
can provide tangible benefits for your organization.
Photo ©iStockphoto.com/Peter Booth and Alexandra Booth

We hear a lot about data these days: big data, open data, proprietary data, market data, metadata.

But we don't hear a lot about data sharing. At least not in business or nonprofit circles.

Data sharing is fairly common among university and research institutions who see their data as a public asset. Federal, state, and local governments have begun to step up and release useful data sets. But beyond institutional walls, there is still widespread reticence against letting anyone outside the organization have access to "our" data.

So why would you, as a private company or nonprofit, want to share your data?

1. It makes your data more valuable. 

Your data is just that: your data. By adding your data to others', a fuller picture emerges of what is really happening in your market, industry, or community. This is true whether you formally "pool" your data into a data portal, or simply compare your data against other data sets.

2. It promotes collaboration.

Data sharing helps you choose partners wisely. You're a business owner, and until you sought out that specific data set, you did not realize that Company X had the potential to be an excellent strategic partner. You're a nonprofit executive director just beginning to realize the power of collective impact. By opening up your data, you can more easily answer the question, "Who else is working in this field?"

3. It promotes innovation.

Building 20 at MIT became well-known as an incubator for innovation. Educators and researchers from disparate fields occupied the space, and in the natural course of their workday, they bumped into each other. Through conversations and generally taking an interest in one another, new ideas sprang forth, ideas which may not have come about otherwise.

The same can occur when you share your data. You may inadvertently generate a new app, a new insight, or a new way of looking at the world because you generously made your data available to all.

4. It demonstrates your organization's transparency. 

Every organization has a level of accountability. Businesses must be accountable to their shareholders and consumers; nonprofits must be accountable to their donors and constituents. All must be accountable to their community.

By willingly sharing your data with the community at large, you demonstrate that you are willing to be accountable for your organization's strengths, you are willing to accept responsibility for areas that need improvement, and you are open to being vulnerable to both praise and criticism. All of these actions help to build trust.

5. It enlarges your worldview. 

When you're the only one looking at your data, you can only see things from your point of view. By exposing your data to the rest of the world, you invite comment--and insight. Viewers outside your organization bring their own experience to your data, and may be able to give you a new perspective that might never have been realized had the data been kept internal.

6. It's a two-way street.

Data sharing begets data sharing.Your courage in stepping out will invite others to do the same.

7. It makes things happen.

Data sharing doesn't have to be passive. Host a hackathon to build that elusive app you've been putting off for months. Sponsor a data visualization contest around your data. Tell the data viz team the concept you're trying to express, and let them have a go at it. Design an event that matches creativity to a legitimate need and see what emerges. If nothing else, you've built goodwill and had fun in the process.

We're not suggesting that you release all of your data. Or confidential data. Just data that could benefit the community as a whole. And of course you must employ some safeguards. In a future post, we'll give you some guidelines on how to cleanse and de-identify your data, so that you can share your data with confidence.

Have a specific question about making your data accessible? Contact us at info@healthlandscape.org.

Or visit www.HealthLandscape.org to sign up for a Community Data Portal webinar. (Next one is tomorrow, August 22 at 3:00 pm ET. Click here to register.)

Facts Matter Data Portal Wins Award at Datapalooza Health App Expo

CINCINNATI — Less than a week after its launch by United Way of Greater Cincinnati and community partners, Facts Matter received national recognition by health care technology experts during their annual expo.

Facts Matter provides the public with data about population demographics, the status of children and youth, education, health, economics and social relations in the Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky region. The portal expands the community’s access to data and informs regional efforts to work together to improve our community. Facts Matter is built on the Community Indicators Data Portal, developed by HealthLandscape, and is the first of these portals to be launched nationwide.

The Community Indicators Data Portal was recognized in the “For Community” category during the 2012 Health Initiatives Forum, better known as “Health Datapalooza,” June 5-6 in Washington, D.C. The event brought together data experts, technology developers and health care system leaders to recognize innovative applications that raise awareness of health and health care systems, and spark community action to improve health.

“We’re very honored to have received this award,” said Mark Carrozza, health informatics developer at HealthLandscape. “At first, we were just excited to be one of the 17 teams chosen to present the data portal on stage out of more than 200 applicants. This award confirms that the Community Indicators Data Portal will be the go-to place for regional data."

The Facts Matter data portal project is supported by the staff of the Community Research Collaborative (CRC), a partnership between United Way of Greater Cincinnati and the Institute for Policy Research at the University of Cincinnati. The CRC provides support to policymakers, community leaders, and service providers to identify the health, social, and economic issues facing the Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky region.

“Facts Matter is going to be a great resource for our entire community as we work to achieve our region's Bold Goals in the areas of education, income, and health,” said Terry Grundy, community impact director at United Way. “The information the portal provides will help us leverage our efforts as we work together for collective impact.”

Register for a Facts Matter Training Session

Want to learn more about Facts Matter, Greater Cincinnati's online gateway to income, education, and health data?

Attend a live webinar (all webinars are one hour):

• Introduction to Facts Matter: Provides a detailed walk-through of the application, including information on how to access and use the portal and a description of the data available within.
• Tuesday, July 10, 2:00 pm
• Tuesday, August 14, 2:00 pm
• Tuesday, September 18, 2:00 pm
• Tuesday, October 16, 2:00 pm
• Monday, November 12, 2:00 pm
• Tuesday, December 4, 2:00 pm
• Using Facts Matter for Decision Making: Gives more in-depth training on how to use the portal to make data-driven decisions.
• Thursday, July 12, 2:00 pm
• Thursday, August 16, 2:00 pm
• Thursday, September 20, 2:00 pm
• Thursday, October 18, 2:00 pm
• Thursday, November 15, 2:00 pm
• Thursday, December 6, 2:00 pm

Or watch either of the videos below:

Facts Matter Overview

Using QuickGeocodes with Facts Matter

You can also download a QuickStart guide from the Facts Matter data portal Resources tab.

We want to make it as easy as possible for you to access and use this tool. If you have any questions, contact us at info@healthlandscape.org or call 513.458.6674.

Facts Matter, Cincinnati's Comprehensive Data Portal, Is Launched

Mark Carrozza, health informatics developer at HealthLandscape, demonstrates the Facts Matter comprehensive data portal at its June 1 launch. Facts Matter is deployed on the HealthLandscape mapping platform.

On Friday, June 1, the Greater Cincinnati nonprofit community gathered at the United Way of Greater Cincinnati's Fifth Third Convening Center for the launch of Facts Matter, the region's new online gateway to information about income, education, and health.

Facts Matter will be the go-to place for Greater Cincinnati regional data. Prior to its launch, community leaders had to gather income, education, health, and other data from a variety of sources. And much of that data was not region-specific. Facts Matter aims to change that.

Facts Matter:

• Contains local indicators, indicators that the Greater Cincinnati community has agreed are important
• Collects the data into one location and provides quick access to it
• Uses data at a collective level, which increases the opportunity to make collective impact and offers a means for collective measurement
• Makes data more tangible through a variety of visualizations
• Fosters partnerships
• Stays up-to-date, as opposed to state of the community reports which are snapshots in time, published every few years

Why do facts matter? Nonprofits have accountability issues. They must demonstrate to their funders, boards, program participants, and the community-at-large that their programs are necessary, effective, and worthy of continued support. And there is greater emphasis these days on data-driven decision making. "Access to strategic data guides decisions, helps in planning, and helps leaders evaluate success," said Stephanie Byrd, executive director of the United Way of Greater Cincinnati's Success By 6 initiative, who presented ways that Facts Matter can help agencies in program planning and accountability.

Jim Votruba, chair of the United Way of Greater Cincinnati's Research Council and soon-to-be-retired president of Northern Kentucky University, reinforced the importance of this tool. "To make progress, we need to confront the facts about ourselves and then act on them. This is a remarkable new civic resource. It will make our partnership work for community transformation just that much easier."

Facts Matter is a collaborative effort. Funding partners include the United Way of Greater Cincinnati, The Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati, The Greater Cincinnati Foundation, and The Carol Ann and Ralph V. Haile, Jr./U.S. Bank Foundation. Data partners include Agenda 360, HealthLandscape, Northern Kentucky University, Strive Partnership, University of Cincinnati, and Vision 2015.

The portal currently contains 81 indicators. "All the data that we want in the portal is not in the portal," said Eric Rademacher, Co-Director of the University of Cincinnati Institute for Policy Research and Director of the Community Research Collaborative. "We will be inviting people to become data partners."

Visit Facts Matter at www.crc.uc.edu. Training opportunities are available through webinars and video tutorials. We will post links in a separate blog, for easy reference.

Community Indicators Data Portal to Be Featured on Main Stage at Health Datapalooza

HealthLandscape will present our Community Indicators Data Portal application on June 5 at the Health Data Initiative Forum III, also known as Health Datapalooza. We are proud to be among only 17 teams chosen to present from the main stage, out of more than 200 applicants.

Health Datapalooza celebrates innovative applications that find meaningful uses for public health data, such as our Medicare Spending and Utilization Data Portal, shown below.

The Medicare Spending and Utilization Data Portal relies on the new Geographic Variation in Medicare Spending and Utilization database, which uses Medicare claims data to calculate utilization measures and total, standardized, and risk-adjusted spending.

We'll be among the data experts, technology developers, entrepreneurs, policy makers, health care system leaders, and community advocates in attendance.

Visit us in Washington, DC, at the Datapalooza, or watch the presentation via live webcast. You can also follow us on Twitter @HealthLandscape. The event hashtag is #healthdata.

We're Previewing Our Community Indicators Data Portal at United Way Community Leaders Conference

HealthLandscape specializes in creating data portals that make community data accessible, updatable, and interactive. (Check out our website for a few featured portals.)

The West Virginia Data Portal displays community indicators related to population, children and youth, educational attainment, health, and economy. The map above shows two indicators: per capita market income for 2009 (left) and 2012 Health Factors Rank (right).

We'll be previewing our Community Indicators Data Portal next week at the United Way Community Leaders Conference in Nashville.

Organizations like the United Way amass a lot of data, especially community indicator data. A community indicator is a way of measuring the health and well-being of a community. There are no standard indicators; typically, community organizations come together and work cooperatively to determine what needs to be measured and how they can do so.

Indicators can vary widely. They may include such measures as:

• Requests for assistance with basic needs such as rent or utility payments
• Food bank or food stamp usage statistics
• Unemployment statistics
• Home foreclosures
• Infant mortality
• Childhood overweight and obesity
• Chronic diseases

HealthLandscape takes community indicator data (which is usually presented in table or graph form), and deploys it on our HealthLandscape mapping platform. The data comes alive, because:

• It's given context: People understand the data in relationship to where they live
• It's not static: Indicators can be overlaid and compared
• It's visualized: What is difficult to see in a table becomes obvious on a map

How does your community measure its health and well-being? And how would a map make it easier to see?

Using Pinterest and HealthLandscape as a Way to Share Your Community Data

Have a Pinterest account? HealthLandscape does too. We just set ours up a week or so ago, so we can begin to showcase some of our tools and current projects. (Look for it to build out over time.)

Pinterest has taken hold because it harnesses the power of visual communication. Any image can be pinned—a photo, ad, infographic, data visualization, or video—and it will grab your viewer's attention quicker than words alone would.

So have you thought about using Pinterest as a way to share your mapped data? Your map + Pinterest could equal more traffic to your web site and more of your data getting out into the community!

Simply follow these steps:

• Develop your map in HealthLandscape using our QuickGeocodes, QuickThemes, or Community HealthView tool.
• Save the file.
• Upload the finished file to your organization's Pinterest site. 
• Be sure to add a description of the map and some creative copy that links to your organization's web site.
• Anticipate referral traffic!

We created a QuickMap of population change data in the Detroit area and posted it on our Pinterest site as an example. Follow us there and see how Pinterest + HealthLandscape can work for you!