Chicago Health Atlas 2018 Improvements!

City Tech Collaborative - in partnership with the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) and Clarity Partners, LLC - has released an updated version of the Chicago Health Atlas.

The Atlas, currently in its third iteration, has been updated to create a better user experience through refinement of the content, application code and visualizations.

City Tech believes that the addition of other identified data sets that include health and other social determinants of health will aid in the development of the Atlas as a decision-making tool from the provider level to the policy level.

Nik Prachand, Director of Epidemiology at CDPH says of the health atlas: “It’s easier to find Community Area level data for indicators when available, it’s also easier to navigate to community areas from the Community Area tab and improved visualization of disparity and time trend graphs. The Magic Button is our favorite enhancement!”

Below is an example of the new toggle feature "the magic button" that allows users to hover over either Community Area or City Wide buttons to display available data for the specific years selected.

Here is an example of the improved trends over time graphs:

City Tech and its partners are committed to developing the Atlas as a Chicago-based public/private data portal including the addition of other health related data on the Atlas. Currently, with data from more than 30 sources, users can explore the health outcomes, behaviors and characteristics of their neighborhood and the entire city of Chicago.

The Atlas also includes street level maps of resources (grocery stores, schools, clinics, housing services etc.) for 55 Chicago community areas and complete detail pages for every hospital in Chicago, with details on admissions, finances, and links to their most recent Community Benefit Reports. Following is the hospital page for Advocate Christ Medical Center in South Suburban Oak Lawn:

More To Come!

Along with improvements to the look and feel of the Atlas, including a usable API, auto scaling of graphs, updated community resources and easier to read charts, the 2019 grant award includes the Partnership Opportunity Fund (POF). The POF is an innovative approach to aid organizations/data providers who want to display relevant data on the Atlas who are limited by the costs associated with the transformation and onboarding of their data. These funds will be administered on a needs-based approach through a standardized application and data review process.

Future development and refinement efforts are driven largely by feedback from current users, CDPH updates and the Chicago Health Advisory Committee. The eight seat Advisory Committee, was established in 2018 to help guide the long-term strategic planning for the Atlas. Key priorities for the committee in 2019 include data and funding partner identification.

For more information regarding the Health Atlas, please email: Leslie.Durr@UILABS.org or HealthyChicago2.0@cityofchicago.org.

About the author: Leslie Durr manages Community Programs and Product Development at the City Tech Collaborative. You can follow her on Twitter @SmartChiLeslie.

About City Tech: City Tech transforms cities into testbeds for new ideas. With partners and people, we remake essential services and infrastructure, from skills to skyscrapers. We then prepare these solutions for other cities, thus increasing the world’s odds of solving big, urban problems. We are currently easing subway congestion during large events; creating a digital map of Chicago’s underground; and launching a digital directory of public health services in Chicago. To learn more, follow City Tech on Twitter or join our LinkedIN group.