The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA

Abstract #37777

Kathryn J. Horsley, DrPH, Epidemiology, Planning and Evaluation, Public Health-Seattle & King County, Wells Fargo Center, Suite 1200, 999 Third Avenue, Seattle, WA 98104, 206 296-2789, kathryn.horsley@metrokc.gov, Sandra Ciske, MN, RN, Epidemiology, Planning and Evaluation Unit, Public Health - Seattle & King County, 999 Third Avenue, Suite 1200, Seattle, WA 98104, and Alison A. Eisinger, MSW, MPH, Epidemiology, Planning, and Evaluation Unit, Public Health -- Seattle & King County, 999 Third Ave., 12th floor, Seattle, WA 98104.

Through an 18-month iterative process, residents and technical experts in King County, Washington, chose a core list of social and health indicators for a community health report card, to be updated every 2 years. The 29 indicators were tracked over time and reported to the public and public officials for the second time in October, 2002. The report includes variations by sub-regions within the county and disparities by race, gender, income, and age. The four categories of indicators reported in Communities Count: Social and Health Indicators Across King County include Basic Needs and Social Determinants of Wellbeing, Positive Development through Life Stages, Safety and Health, and Community Strengths. While many of the indicators are based on routinely-collected data, many others, particularly those reflecting social determinants of health and community-level strengths and structure, required new primary data collection. As a result, King County citizens and public officials now have useful information that typically is not available for the following community strengths/problems: neighborhood social cohesion, freedom from discrimination, social support, family-friendly employer benefits, parent involvement in child’s learning, institutional support for community service, involvement in community organizations, developmental assets in youth, perceived neighborhood safety, income inequity, neighborhood toxic release levels, and ease of access to shops and services. These indicators from year 2000 will be compared with those from 2002.

Learning Objectives:

1.Give a rational for involving residents in selecting community indicators. 2.Discuss the limitations of a phone survey for the purposes of giving community a voice and for collecting population-based data as well as ways for overcoming these limitations.
• Discuss possible measures suitable for community surveys for a variety of social determinants of health.
• Describe ways to move from information advocacy to community action.

Keywords: Assessments, Report Card

Related Web page: communities.count.org

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.