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The Social Determinants of Health: Making the Most of the American Community Survey

Health is associated with socioeconomic status (i.e. income, poverty, education, marital status).  The American Community Survey (ACS) is a potentially powerful tool in identifying populations and geographic areas with health disparities.  Although publicly available, many users find harnessing the power of ACS data challenging.   Workshop attendees will learn about the differences between Census geographies, ACS datasets, selecting appropriate variables related to the social determinants of health, and establishing baseline and trend measures to develop visually appealing results.

Materials and supportting information from the presentation at the Knowledge4Equity Conference in Silver Spring, MD on November 12th, 2012.

Knowledge4Equity Knowledge4Equity

Presentation Materials

For presentation materials, click the corresponding link

Presentation Handout and Powerpoint Slides

Creating a health indicator

Powerpoint Slides

Two Sample Indicator Summaries Using ACS Data

Full Sample Indicator from Newaygo County (this is the example we created in the workshop)

TALENT 2025 - (A West Michigan Inititative around workforce development and job creation)

Gapminder Website

Gapminder - Really powerful visual reminder of why we don't necessarily need health data to show us where health disparities are likely to occur.

American Fact Finder - US Census

American Fact Finder (American Community Survey Data) - This link will take you to where you can download the ACS data.

ACS Calculator (Excel Spreadsheet)

ACS Calculator - The calculator that I demonstrated in the workshop. I will be adding some video tutorials shortly demonstrating how to use the calculator.

Student Consulting Center

Student Consulting Center- if you would like for us to help you with your analytical needs. Our students can help you with your ACS analysis, create a website and embed maps and results. We love to doing this kind of work and can do all of the above work for as little as $500. Contact us to talk about your project and needs.

Newaygo Project Site

Newaygo Project Site - An example project recently completed by the student consulting center.