Social Determinants of Health shape public health and policy interventions.
Neighborhood socioeconomic and demographic characteristics play significant roles in influencing health outcomes. People coming from economically disadvantaged neighborhoods and minority groups are at higher risk for a number of health conditions. HealthLandscape had been a thought leader in Social Determinants of Health since inception.
The PLACES Mapper is a cold-spotting tool that can assist in identifying these areas of need. Using data from the CDC PLACES database and the American Community Survey (ACS), the PLACES Mapper contains several ZCTA-level indicators, which are grouped into five main categories (Unhealthy Behaviors, Health Outcomes, Prevention, Social Determinants, and Race/Ethnicity), that can be layered based on thresholds set by the user.
While the research value of appending community characteristics to the clinical record is well established in academic literature, it’s equally important to be able to summarize this information in a practical and actionable way that can be integrated into clinical practice.
At HealthLandscape, our goal is to advance the science of integrating social determinants of health (SDoH) into clinical practice. We’re developing the Community Vital Signs℠ SAPPHIRE (Service Area PoPulation Health ImpRovEment) application suite as part of that ongoing effort. SAPPHIRE is designed to demonstrate the ease of using SDoH for health and well-being.
The 500 Cities Mapper provides census tract-level small area estimates for chronic disease risk factors, health outcomes, and clinical preventive service use for the largest 500 cities in the United States.
Exploring geographic patterns of health outcomes, preventive care, and unhealthy behaviors is an important first step in designing and implementing effective clinical and public health interventions.