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Primary Submission Category: Place/Communities
Reimagining Population Health Science through Engaging Web Apps and Community Perspectives
Authors: Babu Gounder, Christine Da Rosa, Seongha Cho, Argentina Coy,
Presenting Author: Babu Gounder*
Background: Community workers understand the health of populations they serve but lack accessible structural determinants of health data for local action. This study aims to reimagine health science through an engagement project that pilots a Community Environmental Health Data Access and Research web app (CEHDAR) and explores research questions by asking community workers their perspectives on the usability and trustworthiness of 1) public health data, 2) the CEHDAR app, and 3) the app’s relevance to their work. Methods: Using a SDOH & Place toolkit with human-centered design principles, we developed our CEHDAR app with user transparency, legibility, and agency in mind. The app features publicly available Illinois census-tract data on health outcomes, demographics, healthcare, and environmental exposures. We obtained IRB approval for small focus groups to explore our questions with community workers recruited by convenience sampling. Results: Our app visually mapped data, explained sources, and converted measures into legible numbers (e.g., polluted days above WHO limits instead of PM2.5 concentrations). It incorporated user-interactivity, such as location search, data variable selection, and area comparisons. Thematic analysis of initial focus groups (N=8) of social workers, educators and activists revealed challenges in finding data to use and trust (e.g., data ownership and motives). Enthusiasm was expressed for the CEHDAR app’s transparent, comprehendible, and interactive display of multiple data points. They noted that the app informs relevant health vulnerability dimensions for their work (e.g., help in areas with low private health insurance coverage or potential lead exposure). Conclusion: This study provides initial evidence for disseminating data in engaging and influential ways that can be translated into meaningful local efforts. Human-centered health data apps offer a path to (re)build community trust as disparities widen for underserved populations.