Grantees Mine Data to Improve Child Health

Translating data into social change is never easy. Yet with the help of $10,000 “mini-grants,” 13 nonprofit organizations and local governments in California used health data to develop creative projects that drew public attention to critical health and social welfare issues facing children and youth.

In Shasta County, a public education campaign encouraged reversal of waning immunization rates among children. A Fresno report highlighted the importance of collecting data for Asian subgroups to demystify the “model minority.” Santa Barbara County residents received newspaper inserts describing the state of children’s health in their county, emphasizing the impact of poverty on kids. Fact sheets went out statewide documenting the health status of Latino youth in rural counties. Nonprofits, residents, and local government in the City of Stockton used data to develop a community action plan to address the most pressing youth health issues.

These creative projects and others were funded in 2011 by grants from the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health, which issued a request for proposals that would use data to promote positive change in children’s health in California. Grant applicants were asked to use kidsdata.org, the Foundation’s flagship website that tracks indicators of child health and well being, along with data from other sources. More than 40 organizations submitted proposals.

“We were impressed by the range of innovative ideas proposed for using data to improve child health,” said JoAnna Caywood, senior director of programs and partnerships at the Foundation. “We hope that these examples will inspire organizations to use the local data available on kidsdata.org to target specific concerns in their communities.”

Here are some project highlights:

The California Pan-Ethnic Health Network expanded the Multicultural Health Web Portal to include more data on children and youth of color. The organization also produced nine county fact sheets highlighting factors that influence the health of children of color.

The Central California Children’s Institute at California State University-Fresno produced the report, “Demystifying the model minority: The importance of disaggregating subgroup data to promote success for Southeast Asian youth.” The report spotlights the need for Asian ethnic subgroup information and shares data collection approaches that can be replicated in other regions.

The Public Health Institute’s California Adolescent Health Collaborative produced three issue briefs on the health status of rural Latino youth in California. The briefs describe trends and inequities in rural Latino youth health outcomes and factors that can promote their health. The series has been disseminated statewide and featured in a national public health newsletter.

The San Joaquin Community Data Co-op led a series of community convenings to increase understanding of the issues affecting children’s health in Stockton and to create a guide for action. The guide outlines the needs facing children, existing services to meet those needs, and areas in which additional services are needed.

See a complete list of the grant results to date and links to each organization.

Photo credit: Enrico Strocchi via Flickr

Posted by kidsdata.org

Tags: child health