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.

Hands-On Workshop: Data-Driven Decision Making

Screen shot showing percent of population with diabetes in Hamilton County, Ohio (Source: Robert Wood Johnson County Health Rankings)

 
Would you like to get more out of your own data?

Are you looking for a simple way to map population data, or quickly and easily access American Community Survey data, Robert Wood Johnson County Health Rankings data, and other public data sets?

If so, plan to attend the Data-Driven Decision Making workshop on May 21, from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm at The Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati. 

This hands-on workshop (bring your laptop) will introduce you to HealthLandscape and the OASIS data system. In this five-hour session, you'll have plenty of time to explore these two web-based tools that let you create simple, effective tables, charts, and maps of data that inform policy and drive decision-making.

You are invited to submit your organization's data prior to the workshop so that we can show you how powerful your data can be when shown as a map.

Cost is $35 for nonprofits and includes a light breakfast and lunch. CEUs are available.

Space is limited, so sign up soon! Registration closes May 14.

Register

Use Case: Comparing High School Graduation Rates with Third-Grade Reading Proficiency in Ohio and Kentucky

The Facts Matter data portal is an online tool for data sharing in the Greater Cincinnati region. Community representatives and local leaders (such as the United Way of Greater Cincinnati) have determined what indicators best measure the well-being of the region. They use Facts Matter to display these shared measures and community-level outcomes.

Improving high school graduation rates is one of the region's community impact goals. The screen shots below show several ways Facts Matter visualizes graduation rates and similar indicator data.

High-Low Comparisons of High School Graduation Rates and Third-Grade Reading Proficiency in Kentucky

Above is a comparison of high school graduation rates in Kentucky and third-grade reading proficiency scores (county level). Blue indicates high graduation rates and high third-grade reading proficiency scores; red indicates high graduation rates and low third-grade reading proficiency scores; light blue indicates low graduation rates and high third-grade reading proficiency scores; yellow indicates low graduation rates and low third-grade reading proficiency scores.

 

Side-by-Side Comparisons of High School Graduation Rates and Third-Grade Reading Proficiency in Ohio

Above is a comparison of third-grade reading proficiency scores (left) and high-school graduation rates in Ohio (district-level).

 

Ohio Third-Grade Reading Proficiency Scores by Building

Above is a building-level view of third-grade reading proficiency scores in Ohio. Darkest circles represent buildings with highest levels of reading proficiency.

 

Ohio Third-Grade Reading Proficiency Scores by District

Above is a district-level view of third-grade reading proficiency scores in Ohio. Darkest shading represent districts with highest levels of reading proficiency.

 

Kentucky Third-Grade Reading Proficiency Scores (Chart View)

Above are Kentucky third-grade reading proficiency scores (district-level) viewed by levels of proficiency.

 

Interested in learning more about HealthLandscape's Community Data Portal? Our next webinar is Thursday, April 11, at 3 pm (eastern). Click the Register link below to sign up.

Register

GIS Tracks Emerging Statewide Patient Care Patterns

We are pleased to be featured in Esri's Spring 2013 Health & Human Services newsletter. The article highlights the North Carolina Health Information Portal (NC-HIP), which our client Community Care of North Carolina (CCNC) is using to help manage its Medicare and Medicaid populations.

CCNC comprises 14 network partners who collectively manage 1.2 million of North Carolina's 1.6 million Medicaid recipients. The portal combines clinical and claims data with public data, so CCNC can better understand what is happening with their patient population at the community level.

The article appears on pages 8 and 9 of the newsletter. Click here to download the full issue.

The North Carolina Health Information Portal helps North Carolina improve quality of care for its Medicare and Medicaid populations. This article appears in the Spring 2013 issue of Esri's Health & Human Services newsletter.