Health DATAbytes

Kidsdata Workshop: Using Data About Children in Your Work

Porsche Johnson — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 17:24:59 +0000

Join the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research’s HealthDATA program and kidsdata.org to learn how you can find and use data on children’s health and well being. This free, one-day workshop will be offered in Sacramento on Monday, April 29, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

At the workshop, which will be appropriate for beginning and intermediate data users, you’ll learn how to formulate data questions, interpret results, export data for analysis, and use your findings in reports, presentations, proposals, and policy/program planning. Working directly with kidsdata.org, attendees will learn simple tips for obtaining data for every county, city, school district, and legislative district in the state.

These workshops are sponsored by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research and the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health. Thank you to our host the Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services for allowing us to hold our training at their facility. Register Now

When:
Monday, April 29, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Where:
Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services, Education & Technology Center Technology Lab, Room 219B, 3308 Third Ave, Sacramento, CA 95817 On the corner of Third Ave and 34th St

Cost:
Free.

Contact:
Porsche Johnson, UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, 310-794-0991, porschej@ucla.edu

New tool helps community groups better understand and analyze environmental health data

Porsche Johnson — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 23:22:36 +0000

ALERT (Assessment of Local Environmental Risk Training to Reduce Health Disparities) is a community training and research partnership to support community efforts to combat disproportionate exposure to air pollution among vulnerable populations. The ALERT curriculum is designed to build the capacity of community representatives to understand and analyze environmental health data, develop action plans, establish partnerships, and develop and enhance their training capacity in order to bring new knowledge and skills back to their communities.

ALERT is supported by grant number RC1ES018121 from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) at the National Institutes of Health.

Please enter your email address to download this report. We will not share your information with third parties.

Download the ALERT Project Curriculum & Appendices

[contact-form-7]

Learn more about ALERT Pilot Projects
ALERT is a collaborative project of the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research (CHPR), the UCLA Center for Occupational and Environmental Health (COEH), the East LA Community Corporation (ELACC), and The Children’s Clinic of Long Beach (TCC).

OSHPD webinar (April 4): Using data to study and evaluate the state’s health care system

Porsche Johnson — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 22:57:19 +0000

The Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development (OSHPD) along with their partners, invites you to participate in an interactive webinar on April 4, that will demonstrate how to assess the impact of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) on population health and systems of health care.

Participants will learn how to:

Identify current population health

[ Read full post ]

Community Action Plan recommends policies and practices to protect health from air pollution

Peggy Toy — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 19:00:19 +0000

The Community Action Plan is a result of “Turning Data into Action (TDA): Fighting Air Pollution in Two Immigrant Communities.” The two year project engaged more than 450 community leaders in an assessment and planning process leading to the development of the plan which addresses the effects of air pollution on asthma, cardiovascular health and birth weight. Environmental justice groups, community-based organizations, schools, local health departments, businesses, air quality management agencies, and others were engaged in the project. The TDA Community Action Plan includes 10 goals and strategies to change policies and practices to protect health from disproportionate exposure to air pollution in Boyle Heights and Long Beach and surrounding neighborhoods in close proximity to heavy traffic from the ports and freeways in Los Angeles County, which has among the most polluted air in the country.

Please enter your email address to download this report. We will not share your information with third parties.

[contact-form-7]

The UCLA Center for Health Policy Research served as the Central Coordinating Organization for the Turning Data into Action project in collaboration with The Children’s Clinic, “Serving Children & Their Families” in Long Beach, East LA Community Corporation in Boyle Heights, UCLA Center for Occupational and Environmental Health, City of Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services, Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, the Asthma Coalition of Los Angeles County, and QueensCare Family Clinics. Turning Data into Action received support from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health for Communities Organized to Respond and Evaluate (REACH CORE) Program.

Learn more about Turning Data Into Action.

March 18 Workshop: How to find and use Kidsdata

Porsche Johnson — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 21:10:27 +0000

Learn how to find and use data on children’s health and well-being at a March 18 FREE workshop in Los Angeles, CA hosted by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research’s Health DATA Program and the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health, which supports the children’s health data website kidsdata.org. At this workshop, you’ll learn how to formulate data questions, interpret results, export data for analysis and use your findings in reports, presentations, proposals, and policy/program planning.

Working directly with the kidsdata.org website, attendees will learn simple tips for obtaining health information for every city, legislative district, county, and school district in the state. Register Now.

When: Monday, March 18, 2013
Time: 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Where: The California Endowment Los Angeles Conference Center, 1000 N. Alameda Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012.
Contact: Porsche Johnson (porschej@ucla.edu) for more information.

Recommended Resources
Kidsdata.org (Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health)
UCLA Center for Health Policy Research Health DATA Program

New OSHPD Data Evaluates Populations From the Clinic Perspective

Porsche Johnson — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 18:19:29 +0000

The Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development (OSHPD) recently released their 2011 primary care clinic data. This data gives researchers information about patient populations from the clinic perspective. (In 2011, these clinics served over 5.2 million patients statewide.)

The 2011 dataset includes data on utilization (patients, encounters), patient demographics, sources of revenue, detailed expenditures, … [ Read full post ]

California’s Shrinking Child Population Signals Major Changes for State

David Alexander — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 22:39:49 +0000

David Alexander, M.D., President and CEO of the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health

A new report shows the population of California kids shrinking – 33% of state population in 1970 projected at 21% by 2030. Kids born in 2015 will carry double the economic weight of supporting seniors compared to kids born in 1985.

California’s population of children is shrinking, and that means some big changes ahead for the Golden State.

In 1970, children made up 33 percent of California’s population, but by 2030 they’re expected to comprise just 20 percent, according to a new demographic analysis commissioned by the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health and conducted by University of Southern California researchers.

The growing imbalance between children and retirees means that the economic role of a child born in 2015 will be nearly twice as important as that of a child born in 1985, the report suggests.

“These trends are not yet widely recognized, but they should be a wake-up call for policymakers. Policymakers are making decisions about public resources and budget allocations based on what they think the child population used to be, and not what it really is,” said report author Dowell Myers, professor of policy and demography and director of the Population Dynamics Research Group at USC. “We will be increasingly dependent economically and socially on a smaller number of children. They are more important to the state’s future success than ever before.”

Why exactly is California’s child population shrinking? Far-reaching demographic changes, including declining birth rates, fewer newcomers to the state and a smaller population of women of childbearing age all play a role, Myers said.

The state’s birth rate has declined in every major racial and ethnic group since 2000 and has fallen below what demographers call the necessary “replacement level” of 2.1 births per woman. The loss of California’s children coincides with the expected retirements of the state’s over-65 population whom these children will replace as workers, taxpayers, voters and consumers.

Our hope is that this report will encourage policymakers to recognize the population trends identified in this report and address the issues they raise. As children become an increasingly rare and precious resource, the case becomes even more compelling to provide them with best health care and education possible.

Read the report.
Watch the two-minute video clip.

Two recorded UCLA webinars offer various ways to access and analyze CHIS data

Porsche Johnson — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 00:30:38 +0000

Two webinars were presented by staff from the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research in the past month, and recordings of the webinars are available online. The two webinars provide an overview of various ways to access and analyze data from the California Health Interview Survey. Researchers, students and anyone interested in learning how to use local-level data or analyze CHIS data in general to better understand populations encouraged to view both webinars. Links are provided below.

On Thursday, Nov. 29, presenter Matt Jans, PhD, CHIS Data Quality and Survey Methodology Manager provided an overview of special issues encountered when analyzing complex sample survey data and discussed how to access and analyze CHIS data in the SAS statistical software. Topics included the unique statistical features of the CHIS sample design and some examples of how taking the survey design into account effects health statistics.
The webinar slides are posted here . ( Note: A recording will be posted soon)

On December 13, Yueyan Wang, PhD, Statistical Support for the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, provided an overview of state-of-the art methods for estimating important health indicators for small geographic areas using data from the California Health Interview Survey, CHIS.
Watch the webinar here.

These webinars were sponsored by The California Endowment as a tool for making CHIS local-level data accessible to public health researchers, health policy analysts, and community health advocates.

Dec 5 Workshop (Anaheim): How to find and use children’s health data

Porsche Johnson — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 19:04:54 +0000

Learn how to find and use data on children’s health and well-being at a Dec. 5 FREE workshop in Anaheim, CA hosted by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research’s Health DATA Program and the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health, which supports the children’s health data website kidsdata.org. At this workshop, you’ll learn how to formulate data questions, interpret results, export data for analysis and use your findings in reports, presentations, proposals, and policy/program planning.

When: Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Time: 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Where: DeVry Anaheim University, 1900 South State College Boulevard #150, Anaheim, CA 92806
Cost: Free.
Contact: Porsche Johnson (porschej@ucla.edu) for more information.

Recommended Resources
Kidsdata.org (Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health)
UCLA Center for Health Policy Research Health DATA Program

UCLA webinar (Dec. 13): Meeting the growing demand for local-level health estimates

Porsche Johnson — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 18:54:45 +0000

Researchers, students and anyone interested in learning how to use local-level data to better understand populations are invited to participate in a free webinar on December 13, 2012 from 10-11am, (PST). Presented by Hongjian Yu, PhD and Yueyan Wang, PhD, Statistical Support for the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, this online workshop will provide an overview of state-of-the art methods for estimating important health indicators for small geographic areas using data from the California Health Interview Survey, CHIS. Only a general understanding of population-based data analysis is required.

By the end of this training, participants will:

Receive an overview of various statistical techniques for generating local-level estimates and variances; and
Learn how to compare the strengths and challenges of each technique to determine which method should be employed to meet specific data needs

Register now.

Date: December 13, 2012
Time: 10-11am
Cost: Free

Still have questions? Email us at chis@ucla.edu or Call us at (866) 275-2447

This workshop is sponsored by The California Endowment as a tool for making CHIS local-level data accessible to public health researchers, health policy analysts, and community health advocates.