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Challenge

Marietta and Belpre, OH are two small cities that fall under the same health department jurisdiction. With populations of 13,500 and 6,300, respectively, the joint health department has not been able to access national datasets with data specific to Marietta and Belpre. During their last Community Health Assessment (CHA) & Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP) in 2020, the health department realized that they lacked key localized data about the health of their community in both cities --  information that would have served them well in effectively implementing health improvement initiatives. Most of the data available to them was at the national, state, or county-level, not granular enough for their small communities. This led them to apply to the City Health Dashboard’s Put Us on the Map Challenge, an opportunity for communities <50,000 to apply to get their city added to the website.

Impact

Marietta and Belpre joined the Dashboard in summer 2022, gaining access to city and neighborhood-level data on over 26 measures of health and the social drivers of health. As part of their application to become a nationally-accredited health department, the Marietta/Belpre Health Department is now in the process of implementing a new CHA/CHIP. They are integrating the Dashboard’s children in poverty, diabetes, high blood pressure, uninsured, and housing with potential lead risk metrics as well as disaggregated racial/ethnic data to improve their understanding of local challenges and drive their implementation strategy to meet the specific needs of their communities. Additionally, with limited funding allocated toward the Health Department, Dashboard data has been a game changer in helping the Department apply for grants, thoroughly demonstrating need, and setting their applications apart.