What to know
Tennessee (TN) was awarded funding from CDC’s Tracking Program in 2022. The TN Tracking Program aims to build public health capacity and expertise in environmental health surveillance and to modernize data systems to empower people to make information-driven decisions that affect their health.
Overview
The TN Tracking Program designed the TN Health Data Website to help users quickly locate and visualize health, environmental, and community data. Users can easily download data and visualizations to use in research, grants, presentations, reports, and websites.
The TN Health Data Website aims to help with the following.
- Improved public health decisions
- Healthier Tennesseans in healthier communities
- Increased opportunities for funding
- Better use of time and resources
More information about Tennessee’s Tracking Program will be available soon.
Accomplishments
Improving Environmental Resilience
The Tennessee Department of Health (TDH) wanted to improve environmental resiliency (the ability to recover from extreme environmental events), but limited access to valuable data slowed progress. Fortunately, the TN Tracking Program was able to supply the important environmental health data TDH needed for decision-making. With data from TN Tracking and a mini-grant from the CDC Foundation, TDH developed a comprehensive environmental resilience plan that is tailored for the state. The multidivisional document describes initiatives that will be implemented across the state, addressing the built environment, nutrition, and disaster preparedness.
TDH also hosted a meeting with members from local governments and academics to collaborate on addressing environmental resiliency, like extreme heat. Looking ahead, this group plans to expand environmental resiliency resources, build partnerships, and enact public health policy. TN Tracking helped put data into action, leading the state to better understand environmental health impacts.