February 8, 2024
El Paso County Public Health launches innovative visualizations of local health data
Pairing data visualizations with Community Health Assessment for the first time
El Paso County, CO – El Paso County Public Health (EPCPH) announces the launch of two innovative new dashboards which feature data visualizations of two leading health issues: suicide and overdose.
The goal of the public health data dashboards—which are aligned with EPCPH’s Strategic Plan and Community Health Assessment—is to enhance transparency and increase access to timely, relevant, and credible information.
“Local data is foundational to understanding county health issues, identifying trends, and creating data-driven strategic plans and actions to address the needs,” said Susan Wheelan, MBA, director of El Paso County Public Health. “This marks the first time data visualizations are accessible for leading health issues as part of our El Paso County, Colorado, Community Health Assessment.”
EPCPH’s Data & Analytics Program and Office of Communication are leading the way in establishing new and innovative ways to increase public access to local data. These dashboards, which include data through 2022, will be updated on an annual basis to reflect the previous year’s data.
Overdose dashboard
The overdose dashboard includes information on drug overdose counts and rates over time, in addition to breakdowns by sex, race/ethnicity, age, type of drug involved, and more. This dashboard also features a specific section on fentanyl to highlight the role it has played in drug overdose deaths.
Suicide dashboard
The suicide dashboard features detailed information on suicide death counts and rates over time, in addition to breakdowns by sex, race/ethnicity, age, manner, and more.
In addition to being identified as leading health issues through the Community Health Assessment process, the suicide and overdose dashboards aim to provide a more comprehensive look at these complex public health issues. The dashboards also feature full Spanish translation of each visualization and narrative.
The Community Health Assessment (CHA) is required to be completed every five years, as statutorily required by the Colorado Public Health Act. The CHA is a comprehensive report which describes the overall health of El Paso County communities, using local data to assess the leading causes of death and identify the top health needs. This is accomplished through the work of the Healthy Community Collaborative (HCC), a multi-disciplinary group—led by EPCPH—made up of more than 60 representatives from diverse sectors. The CHA then leads into the development of the Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP), a community-driven plan which identifies key strategies to address the health concerns identified in the CHA.