The Healthy Regions and Policies Lab, in partnership with the RWJF Foundation, is proud to introduce our latest project: The SDOH & Place project. A free web-based platform for place-based health equity data discovery and practice.

What does SDOH & Place data mean?

The Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) are the conditions in which people are born, live, learn, work, play, worship, & age that affect a range of health outcomes.

"SDOH model" by Skbanergt is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Place-based data about SDOH is often geospatial in nature, linking crucial information about the neighborhoods and regions in which people reside.

Ensuring all have easy access to harmonized, Place-Based SDOH data in which they live, work, advocate for, and/or research is crucial for health equity.

The Challenge

Place-based SDOH data can be difficult to find and difficult to use. It is often split across multiple, siloed, programs and systems that often take years to master, from city data outlets to the national census.

In addition, for those who can find and use this place-based data, there exists the issue of developing these web apps that align with user's needs (i.e., Human-Centered Design).

Our goal is to make it easier to access and work with SDOH and place data, breaking down existing silos to further health equity.

How will this project help?

To ensure easier access, and to make SDOH data more accessible to all who would like to work with such data, the SDOH & Place project will act as a one stop shop for finding SDOH and place-based data; as well as, working with it.

Data Discover Tool

This search engine will act as a one stop shop for finding free high quality SDOH data. This tool will allow you to search for data by topic and/or location within rural, urban, and suburban U.S. spaces.

Community Toolkit

This toolkit will help all those interested in working with SDOH and place-based data, but would like to learn how to work with data more effectively. All experience levels can access this free toolkit and learn how to work with SDOH data, build your own data dashboard/visualization, or web app. In addition, this toolkit will teach individuals how to develop such things aligned with human-centered design (HCD).

The SDOH & Place Project coming soon!

Learn more:

• Keep up with the project
• Apply to our SDOH & Place fellowship
• Meet our Stakeholders
• Learn more about our team