Applying a disparities lens to community health data and improvement strategies

In 2014, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) announced its new vision for a Culture of Health—one in which all members in our society have the opportunity to live their healthiest life possible. This vision has necessitated a special focus on disparities and equity. County Health Rankings & Roadmaps (RWJF’s major collaboration with the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute) is also employing a number of enhancements to bring a disparities lens more specifically into its work and resources. The Rankings serve as a starting point for change that can help various community stakeholders identify and address specific gaps within their communities.

This session will explain a number of these enhancements, including: 1) adding an income inequality measure to the Rankings; 2) developing a guide for communities seeking to drill down from the county level to smaller geographies or population sub groups; 3) moving from state measure maps with equal sized quartiles of counties, to “heat maps” that demonstrate how far counties are from their state’s means; 4) highlighting disparities in reports; and 5) including an assessment of the potential impact of policies and programs in our What Works for Health evidence database on disparities. Finally, the session will include a conversation about how the program has enhanced its community coaching capacity, adding coaches with deep community ties in regions where County Health Rankings & Roadmaps has previously had less of a presence. We will also discuss how our coaches work to help communities improve health for all.