What to know
The Connecticut (CT) Tracking Program’s mission is to collect, analyze and share data related to environmental health in order to educate and inform stakeholders and communities.
Background
Connecticut is the third smallest state by area but is the fourth most densely populated state. It has 169 towns and 65 local health agencies.
Hartford, the capitol city, is within a 2.5-hour drive of the following cities: New York City; Boston, MA; Providence, RI; and Newark, NJ.
58% (1.8 million acres) of the state's land area is forest land.
About 72% of the state's housing stock was built before 1980. As a result, a large proportion of residents experience housing-related health issues like exposure to lead paint and worsening asthma symptoms.
Accomplishments
Providing Local-Level Hospital and Emergency Department Data
Public health practitioners strive to better understand the relationships among environment, behavior, and health in local areas or small populations at the sub-county geographic level. Often, data are available only at state or county levels. To help fill this data gap, the CT Tracking Program processed 20 years of the state's hospital discharge and emergency department (ED) data through a custom geocoder. Doing this made it possible to view these data at sub-county (census tract) level. Now, users can access these local-level hospital and ED data on the CT Tracking Data Explorer.
Unique Data
All state and local tracking programs collect and display a set of standard data. But individual programs may host other data that are important to their populations. CT's unique data include the following.
The CT Tracking Program partnered with the state health department's Infectious Disease Section to include data on more than 20 reportable conditions. These include influenza, legionellosis, and Lyme disease.