Using data to shift city priorities and promote active living in Providence, RI

Challenge

Physical inactivity has become a growing issue in Providence, Rhode Island. The Healthy Communities Office (HCO), the City’s lead agency for health policy, led a public-private partnership to prioritize improving physical activity in neighborhoods, in particular where children, because of where they live, have less access to healthy food, parks and green spaces, and reliable transportation. The City’s initial obesity prevention campaign aimed at improving physical activity was not resonating with the local community.

Impact

The HCO used the Dashboard to explore deeper into the data.  Combining learnings from the data and conversations with the community, the HCO determined that walkability and safety concerns around violent crime had a greater influence on physical inactivity than obesity itself. With this new perspective, Dashboard measures on walkability were combined with state data on bikeability to identify barriers and opportunities for increased physical activity in specific neighborhoods, and encourage design of more safe and walkable streets.