Additional Resources

Health Equity Data Sources

1. American Community Survey
"The American Community Survey (ACS) helps local officials, community leaders, and businesses understand the changes taking place in their communities. It is the premier source for detailed population and housing information about our nation." The Census page also includes several data equity tools using Census data and data from the ACS.

2. Social Vulnerability Index
"Every community must prepare for and respond to hazardous events, whether a natural disaster like a tornado or disease outbreak, or a human-made event such as a harmful chemical spill. A number of factors, including poverty, lack of access to transportation, and crowded housing may weaken a community's ability to prevent human suffering and financial loss in a disaster. These factors are known as social vulnerability. The CDC/Agency for Toxic Substances and Diseases Registry (ATSDR) Social Vulnerability Index (CDC/ATSDR SVI) uses 16 U.S. census variables to help local officials identify communities that may need support before, during, or after disasters."

3. PLACES: Local Data for Better Health
"PLACES is a collaboration among CDC, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the CDC Foundation. PLACES provides health data for small areas across the country. This allows local health departments and jurisdictions, regardless of population size and rurality, to better understand the burden and geographic distribution of health measures in their areas and assist them in planning public health interventions."

4. Social Capital Atlas
"Social capital—the strength of our relationships and communities—has been shown to play an role in outcomes ranging from income to health." This tool uses privacy-protected data from Facebook to measure economic connectedness, cohesiveness, and civic engagement to understand where "different forms of social capital are lacking or flourishing."

5. Health Equity Tracker
This tracker uses data primarily from the ACS and BRFSS. "The Health Equity Tracker was created in 2020 to aggregate up-to-date demographic data from the hardest-hit communities. [It] aims to give a detailed view of health outcomes by race, ethnicity, sex, and other critical factors. Our hope is that it will help policymakers understand what resources and support affected communities need to be able to improve their outcomes."

Data Equity

1. Addressing Gaps in Public Health Reporting of Race and Ethnicity Data for COVID-19 "The Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE) conducted an assessment to identify the factors that are impacting the completeness and quality of race and ethnicity data for COVID-19 at public health agencies, as well as the solutions that may help mitigate these limiting factors."

2. Collecting and Using Race, Ethnicity, and Language Data in Ambulatory Settings
"This report on collecting demographic data in ambulatory practices is based on the fundamental proposition that to eliminate disparities in care one must first be able to detect them. Detecting disparities requires three steps: (1) collect valid and reliable data on the demographic characteristics of patients receiving care, (2) collect valid and reliable data on the quality of care delivered, and then (3) stratify the quality data by the relevant demographic subgroups. This report details and provides examples of several activities that are improved with accurate demographic data and explains how these data can directly and substantively benefit ambulatory practices."

3. Disaggregating Data to Measure Racial Disparities in COVID-19 Outcomes and Guide Community Response – Hawaii, March 1, 2020-February 28, 2021
This article describes the approach the Hawai'i Department of Health took to disaggregate COVID-19 case and death data beyond the five minimum racial origin categories as defined by the Office of Management and Budget, and how these findings were used to better tailor culturally competent public health action to the needs of the most disproportionately affected communities.

4. The Role of State Policy in Use of Z Codes to Document Social Need in Medicaid Data
This report characterizes the use of Z codes in Medicaid claims to understand how patient social needs are documented in healthcare records. The authors also conducted an environmental scan to understand how state policy landscapes contribute to increased documentation of Z codes. Z codes can play an useful role in capturing data on the social determinants of health through patient and clinician interactions.

5. Health Equity Guiding Principles for Inclusive Communication
"CDC's Health Equity Guiding Principles for Inclusive Communication emphasizes the importance of addressing all people inclusively and respectfully. These principles are intended to help public health professionals, particularly health communicators, within and outside of CDC ensure their communication products and strategies adapt to the specific cultural, linguistic, environmental, and historical situation of each population or audience of focus."

6. Oregon Health Authority Office of Equity and Inclusion Cultural Competence Continuing Education (CCCE) Trainings
"The Oregon Health Authority (OHA)'s Office of Equity and Inclusion is working to ensure health/health care professionals have continued access to OHA-approved cultural competence continuing education trainings (CCCE). CCCE trainings will continue to strengthen Oregon's health/health care workforce's ability to provide culturally and linguistically appropriate care to our must vulnerable populations."

7. National LGTBQIA+ Health Education Center Learning Resources – Collecting Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Data
The National LGBTQIA+ Health Education Center, a program of the Fenway Institute, provides several learning modules, publications, toolkits, videos, and webinars on collecting social orientation and gender identity data.

8. Considerations for Defining Homelessness in Public Health Data Collection
Collecting standardized data for housing and homelessness can provide actionable insights for public health departments and community programs. This article describes existing challenges with surveillance data for housing status.

9. Resource Modules on Health of People with Intellectual Disabilities
This resource from the Westchester Institute for Human Development and the Association of University Centers on Disabilities provides trainees, students, and health professionals with ways to improve communication with people with intellectual disabilities.

10. Why We Ask
This resource from Henry Ford Health offers patients and clinicians with clear and accessible explanations about why collecting information on race and ethnicity is critical for public health programs.

11. Emergency Department Query for Patient-Centered Approaches to Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity: the EQUALITY Study
This article identifies the optimal patient-centered approach to collect sexual orientation data in the emergency department.

12. Opportunities and Challenges for Developing Syndromic Surveillance Systems for the Detection of Social Epidemics
"This commentary explores the potential and challenges of developing a syndromic surveillance system with the ability to more rapidly detect epidemics of addiction, poverty, housing instability, food insecurity, social isolation and other social determinants of health (SDoH)."