Data can help formulate goals and strategies, and help develop sound policies. But data does not open minds or change mindsets. For that, a companion tool is needed: narrative.

In a dynamic half-day workshop, which took place in advance of National Network of Public Health Institutes’ Open Forum, the Data Across Sectors for Health (DASH) team engaged nearly 30 public health professionals, equipping them with tools to make meaningful contributions to their organizations’ data modernization efforts.

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has updated the decennial census form to more accurately capture the demographics of our country. Community-based organizations (CBOs) and public health organizations can learn from the OMB’s work and from each other when considering equitable practices for collecting demographic data.

Engaging people with lived experience in any project or policy work must be based on time, trust, equal partnership roles… and fair compensation, of course. Here are some suggestions on how to go about it.

It is essential to include the people with the experience in research and action related to health, public health, and social determinants of health. But it’s also important to carefully consider what is meant by “inclusion,” and to ensure the term and its initialism do not become an objectifying shorthand.

Some HIEs, HDUs, and other health data collaboratives have taken steps and are working to reach beyond clinical walls, collaborating with community partners and social service providers. While this type of multi-sector data sharing yields benefits in whole-person care, collaboratives must first plan carefully for the foundational work of relationship building.

The Biden administration published an important trio of publications affirming the importance of multisector collaboration across social care, health, and public health systems, and we at DASH could not be more pleased.

DASH has been providing technical assistance to PHIG grantees for the Data Modernization Initiative portion of the grant, and two DASH staff members presented at the Region 5 convening: co-director Melissa Moorehead and program manager Ellen Clewett.

Data Across Sectors for Health (DASH) is proud to be providing technical support to organizations seeking to upgrade their information processes and systems through the CDC’s Data Modernization Initiative (DMI). The DMI is part of the CDC’s response to issues in our health information systems that COVID brought to the fore.

The All In National Inventory 2.0 survey captures the experiences of organizations participating in multisector data sharing. DASH, along with partners from the All In network and data.org’s Rising Equitable Community Data Ecosystems (RECoDE) team produced and disseminated this survey in 2021. Here are the results.

The Incubator’s goal is to advance equity in data ecosystems – and in grantmaking – by lifting up the priorities and leveraging the expertise of community-based organizations, and, crucially, of the community members they serve.

Focusing too much on the problems of a community makes it seem like residents are helpless victims who can’t take charge of their own lives. It implies that help can only come from the outside, which then prevents community members from defining their own future. Asset-based community development (ABCD) stands this narrative on its head.

We love expertise. It entertains us. It gives us hope. We trust it. We love expertise so much, we even quantified it: 10,000 hours of practice. That’s what it takes to become an expert. Strangely enough, there’s an important part of life where we don’t trust the experts to make decisions for us. But that might be changing in the State of Washington.

A paper co-authored by our DASH colleagues argues that public health, healthcare, and social service sectors simply need to work with communities to democratize decisions about how their data is used.

Sharing data across state agencies and community-based organizations is critical for advancing health equity and addressing complex health challenges that involve multiple sectors. Insights from individuals with lived expertise provide valuable context to inform data-sharing efforts that is critical to improving health equity.