Newswise — Data Across Sectors for Health (DASH) announced a new national program to advance health, equity and well-being through data sharing partnerships between communities and states. DASH, led by the Illinois Public Health Institute and Michigan Public Health Institute, developed the Learning and Action in Policy and Partnerships in partnership with the Center for Health Care Strategies. DASH is an initiative supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Grantees from six states, in LAPP’s first cohort, will receive funding and technical assistance to enhance community data sharing capabilities and foster relationships between state governments, community based-organizations, and community members. The initiative was developed with strategic planning and key insights from federal and state officials, community-based organization leaders, subject matter experts, and community members.
2021 projects include:
- Arizona (led by the Arizona Housing Coalition): Building a statewide data-sharing model between state agencies and the homeless systems of care to support those experiencing homelessness.
- Connecticut (led by the United Way of Central and Northeastern Connecticut): Co-developing a data framework and report for community collaboratives to improve population health.
- Rhode Island (led by the Center for Health and Justice Transformation at The Miriam Hospital): Integrating criminal justice, health, and other public sector data to inform justice involvement as a social determinant of health and explore robust criminal justice outcomes.
- South Carolina (led by the University of South Carolina): Leveraging existing data to inform rural community health and educational initiatives.
- Washington, D.C. (led by the D.C. Primary Care Association): Establishing sustainable, interoperable resource directory infrastructure that will facilitate the flow of information about the health, human, and social services that are available to DC residents.
- Washington (led by the Economic Services Administration at Department of Social and Health Services): Collaborating with state and community partners on a shared vision for an equitable economic recovery and a just and equitable future.
“Bridging multi-sector data from states and communities is a necessary step to achieving equity,” said Elissa Bassler, MFA, co-program director of Data Across Sectors for Health and chief executive officer of the Illinois Public Health Institute. “Grantees will reimagine how data can be used to build healthier, more equitable communities and share learnings with others.”
DASH has worked with communities throughout the country over the past five years to build local capacity for exchanging data between multiple sectors, while simultaneously building the evidence base to inform a national movement.
“Data partnerships between states and communities can drive the policy changes needed to coordinate health care, public health, and social services for people those systems serve, enabling more equitable state and local systems for health,” said Hilary Heishman, MPH, senior program officer at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
To learn more about the program, visit www.DASHconnect.org/LAPP.
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About Data Across Sectors for Health
Supported through the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and led by the Illinois Public Health Institute and the Michigan Public Health Institute, DASH supports collaborations that work together to improve the health of their communities, promote health equity, and contribute to a Culture of Health by strengthening information-sharing systems, engaging additional sectors and community members, and building sustainable capacity to work collaboratively toward community goals. DASH shares lessons learned from awardees to create a body of knowledge and advance this emerging field of sharing data and information across and beyond traditional health sectors, and leverages peer-to-peer connection opportunities to spread innovative approaches that address the root causes of inequity and poor health. The home for this network of dissemination is All In: Data for Community Health.
About the Center for Health Care Strategies
“The Center for Health Care Strategies (CHCS) is a nonprofit policy center dedicated to improving the health of people with low incomes. CHCS works with state and federal agencies, health plans, providers, and community-based organizations to advance innovative and cost-effective models for organizing, financing, and delivering health care services. Its work focuses on: (1) advancing delivery system and payment reform; (2) integrating services for people with complex needs; and (3) building Medicaid and cross-sector leadership capacity to support high-quality, cost-effective care. For more information, visit www.chcs.org.
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