A Tool for Providing Data on Small Areas: Development of Neighborhood Profiles for Santa Clara County, California, 2014.

ABSTRACT

Data on small geographic areas that can be easily accessed and updated have become essential for targeting public health programs and services. Disaggregating data at the sub-county or sub-city level has the potential to reveal disparities not otherwise evident for large geographies. As important as such data are, the methods to produce data on small geographic areas are challenging and resource-intensive, and little description and analysis of such tools exists. We describe a tool--neighborhood profiles--that provides a way for public health agencies and their partners to define neighborhood boundaries, select indicators, and disseminate data in a user-friendly format. We also share lessons learned, including the importance of involving planning departments in boundary definition to ensure relevance to the community, selecting a framework that links indicators to broader conceptual categories that can highlight disparities, and forming a team with the diverse skills necessary for planning and developing the profiles.