Building Public Health Data Dashboards: Tutorial Playbook

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Data Science
• Health Informatics

Background:

• Public health data dashboards can enhance transparency and decision-making but face development challenges.
• The HEALing Communities Study (HCS) provides a case study for developing data dashboards in community-engaged interventions.
• Opioid overdose deaths are a critical public health issue addressed by evidence-based practices.

Purpose of the Study:

• To share lessons learned and key decision points in public health dashboard development.
• To provide a practical guide or "playbook" for creating effective data dashboards.
• To assist individuals and organizations in building dashboards for data-driven decision-making.

Main Methods:

• Describing core considerations: who, what, why, where, when, and how.
• Outlining data curation steps: identifying metrics, data sources, and acquisition processes.
• Discussing practical aspects of data visualization and infrastructure for hosting and publishing dashboards.

Main Results:

• Key decision points and trade-offs in dashboard development are presented.
• A structured approach to data curation, visualization, and infrastructure is outlined.
• The playbook allows for sequential or random-access engagement based on user needs.

Conclusions:

• Effective public health dashboards require careful consideration of multiple factors, from data to dissemination.
• The HCS experience offers valuable insights for developing impactful data dashboards.
• This resource aims to foster context-sensitive evaluation for successful dashboard implementation and data-driven decision-making.