Visualizing Local-Level Data to Strengthen the Health Department in Maplewood, New Jersey

Challenge 

Located in Essex County, New Jersey, Maplewood Township has its own health department tasked with improving the health of Township residents. Maplewood Health Department staff are familiar with the needs of their community but have lacked local data specific to their municipality, instead relying on county data that does not precisely reflect health in the Township. Without granular data at the city and neighborhood-level, the health department has faced challenges in guiding resources to the neighborhoods where they are most needed, and in obtaining additional resources necessary to address health disparities in Maplewood. 

Impact

In 2023 Maplewood’s health department applied to the “Put Us on The Map Challenge,” a program through which smaller cities can apply to be added to the City Health Dashboard. Since being added to the site, Maplewood has gained access to over 25 health and health-related metrics specific to its city and neighborhoods boundaries. After analyzing Dashboard metrics, the health department found stark disparities in Smoking, High Blood Pressure, Diabetes, Physical Inactivity, Binge Drinking, and Life Expectancy across the Township. At the Township Committee’s Board of Health meeting, the health department presented Dashboard maps depicting health disparities within the city. They combined these census tract-level data with their expertise about the communities they serve to inform their plan to address and reduce health disparities in Maplewood.  

Since this meeting, Maplewood has launched several interventions. The township has renewed its focus on reducing drug and alcohol use in specific neighborhoods, introduced regular screenings for diabetes and hypertension at farmer’s markets, and plan to deploy health department staff door-to-door to encourage routine health screenings. The health department has also shifted the location of its Annual Health Fair and adjusted their advertising strategy to more effectively reach communities identified via the Dashboard as having greater needs. Maplewood analyzed data from the Annual Health Fair and discovered that the individuals who received screenings primarily lived in the communities of greater need—demonstrating that the Dashboard was pivotal to developing a successful outreach. 

Maplewood has also used Dashboard data to secure more resources for health promotion initiatives. In a recent successful grant application to the New Jersey State Department of Health, Maplewood included Dashboard visuals to substantiate the need for increased funding for its community programs and staff. Health Department staff cited Dashboard data as instrumental to their application’s effectiveness. Maplewood exemplifies how small townships can use tools like the City Health Dashboard to enhance their reach and support grant applications, strengthening their mission to improve resident health.