Public Health Research Tools
Several web sites are built upon existing public health databases and allow web-based interactions with those databases.
California Health Interview Survey (CHIS)
The most extensive survey of health indicators in the state, covering health conditions, behaviors, insurance status, access to health care, public program participation and demographic information. The smallest geographic area accessible online in L.A. County is by Service Provider Area (SPA). CHIS findings are available on the web site as publications based on the survey and as summaries of the findings. In addition, the AskCHIS interface allows online queries of the data.
Health Query
A collection of tools that provide information about personal and community health. A Personal Health section contains links to public health information, a tool to find health facilities in one’s neighborhood and tools to compare health status indicators for certain communities by zip code with statewide data. The indicators examine California’s Vital Statistics, such as leading causes of death. Population databases can be analyzed by geographic region down to zip code and by age groupings, gender, race, ethnicity and federal poverty level.
Neighborhood Knowledge Los Angeles
An effort to map resources and conditions; dedicated to helping prevent housing and neighborhood conditions from deteriorating. The web site is available in English and Spanish. One can zoom in on a neighborhood, or even an individual house, and obtain such information as housing code violations and tax delinquencies.
Other sources of public health data have fewer tools for analyzing the data, and some have a broader geographic focus than L.A. County.
Child Trends DataBank
The Child Trends DataBank is based upon the U.S. Census. It provides national-level reports based upon the Census data. It allows for download of the underlying data, but there is no online functionality to manipulate the data or generate different queries.
County-City-Community Level Information on Kids (CLICKS)
Allows users to access state-specific inventories of data from local sources, such as health departments, human services agencies, and school. For California, health information is available on teen births, prenatal care, low birthweight, children without continuous health insurance and children without dental insurance. Indicators can be graphed over time, and various regions within California can be ranked based on indicators. Maps can be generated comparing indicators by county.
KIDS COUNT
Contains profiles of U.S. Census data for children for the nation, region, states, or smaller geographic areas such as cities and Congressional districts. These geographic areas can also be ranked on the basis of indicators. The data includes income and poverty, parental employment, education, language, disability, neighborhood characteristics, age and sex, race and ethnicity, and living arrangements. Graphs can also be generated.
United Way of Greater Los Angeles
Provides numerous community reports and ethnic profiles offering data at the Service Planning Area (SPA) and zip code level for L.A. County.
United Way State of Caring Index
This site has a health component, with data gathered from the U.S. Census Bureau, the National Center for Health Statistics and the Annie E. Casey Foundation. It allows perusal of trend data by state and indicator. Hence, California can be compared against the nation and other states on indicators similar to those at the KIDS COUNT database.
Other organizations provide technical assistance and support in finding and analyzing public health data.
Health D.A.T.A. Program
As part of the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, this site intended to build the capacity of advocates, organizations and coalitions to use health research data to address public health policy issues.
Health Research and Educational Trust (HRET) Disparities Toolkit
The updated Toolkit is a Web-based tool that provides hospitals, health systems, clinics, and health plans with resources for systematically collecting race, ethnicity, and primary language data from patients. Free to registered users, it serves as an educational tool about the importance of data collection, how to implement a framework to collect the data, and how to use these data to improve quality of care for all populations.
UCSF Family Health Outcomes Project
The purpose of this site is to improve the health of children and their families and communities by supporting community assessment and planning, data-driven policies, evidence-based interventions and effective evaluation strategies. The Web site includes information and reports on analysis of public health data, and selection of health indicators.
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