Cities in Action: Empowering Communities Through Democratized Health Data

Overview

City Names: Charlottesville, VA; Houston, TX; and Rochester, NY

Partner: City Health Dashboard (CHDB)

Problem: Redlining and other discriminatory housing practices have left an indelible mark on communities across the country, consequentially creating long-term barriers to wealth-building for Black households.  Cities and communities are seeking approaches to reverse the long-lasting negative impact of redlining by using policymaking, program design and implementation, or community engagement to create equitable opportunities for health and well-being for all residents. However, city leaders often lack the local-level data necessary to illuminate local needs, set priorities, target resources, advocate for funding, and take collective action across sectors to drive measurable improvement in disinvested neighborhoods.

Solution: The City Health Dashboard team worked with representatives from three city governments – Charlottesville, VA; Houston, TX; and Rochester, NY for the 2023 Capstone Challenge. Through a series of collaborative discussions, the teams developed achievable Capstone Challenge goals, pinpointed CHDB metrics that established baseline data on city priorities, identified local data sources to add community-level nuance, and workshopped the resulting data visualizations and presentations. Each city had a different context and presented unique challenges.

Outcome: The team developed comprehensive, user-friendly reports that visualize community needs, identify potential disparities, and pinpoint areas for future exploration and growth. The team provided each city with a customized set of recommendations on how to communicate the data to diverse audiences, including council members and other elected officials, school boards, and community residents.