The Polis Center

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Browsing The Polis Center by Author "Comer, Karen F"

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    Community Health Information Resource Guide: Volume 1 - Data
    (The Polis Center at IUPUI, 2011-06) Comer, Karen F; Derr, Michelle; Seyffarth, Chris; Thomaskutty, Champ; Kandris, Sharon; Ritchey, Matthew
    This resource guide contains useful information for those who would like to use data to assess the health status of an Indiana community. Targeted users include local organizations such as county health departments and community health coalitions. Being able to access and use relevant data and information resources is a common hurdle for those interested in assessing and advancing community health. As a result of this need and at the request of the Community Advisory Council of the Community Health Engagement Program, we developed this resource guide to assist individuals, organizations, and coalitions in Indiana in identifying appropriate resources that guide their community health research and evaluation activities. The term “data” is used in this volume in reference to both data and information sources. While data consist of raw facts and figures, information is formed by analyzing the data and applying knowledge to it so that the findings are more meaningful and valuable to the community. The benefit of using data is that you can often manipulate it for your specific purposes. The benefit of using information sources is that the work of generating meaning from the data might already have been done, while a potential downside is that the available sources might not answer your specific questions. There are diverse sources of data that can be used as a basis for community health evaluation and decision making. Those looking to use data must consider multiple factors before determining the appropriate data to seek and use.
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    SAVI Public Health Needs Assessment: Final Report and Recommendations
    (The Polis Center, IUPUI, 2007-07) Comer, Karen F; Kandris, Sharon; Colbert, Jay; Devadasan, Neil; Bodenhamer, David J
    This report summaries the 2007 assessment of current and projected health sector uses of the SAVI Community Information System (SAVI) and recommends SAVI enhancements to meet the information needs of decision makers, practitioners, and researchers. Based on focus groups and key informant interviews, it was discovered that local decisionmakers and practitioners in Central Indiana currently used SAVI, or would like to use SAVI, to assess the relative spatial demand and supply of health and human services, select sites for new health and human service facilities, assess patient access to health and human service facilities, select locations for services and programs, and track characteristics of facility catchment areas. Health practitioners and public health professionals were interested in using geospatially-enabled indicators for more effective planning and interventions, including to track public health outcomes, understand the socio-economic and physical environment of individual patients and communities, locate target populations for existing and potential health programs and services, support grant applications, and inform the public about environmental risk factors and disease prevalence in their communities. Clinical translational and public health researchers are using, or would like to use, geospatially-enabled measures for the study of social and environmental determinants of health, health disparities, environmental exposure and health risk, predictors of health knowledge, ecological models of health behavior, health service access, quality, and cost, and efficacy of health interventions. Detailed recommendations are provided for both short- and long-term enhancements to SAVI based on the existing and potential SAVI users and uses identified via this study and toward assisting the local health sector improve health knowledge and ultimately the health and wellbeing of Central Indiana communities.