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2024 in Review: Top Social Determinants of Health Insights
As we close out 2024, we’re looking back on the stories that resonated most with our readers. In this final Health Matters newsletter of the year, we’re showcasing 2024’s most-read blog posts, which covered how PolicyMap helps organizations focused on food as medicine and access to healthy foods, unhoused populations, social isolation, maternal health, and Alzheimer’s research. This year also brought exciting announcements, including new partnerships with Surgo Health, Snowflake, and OpenAthens. Thank you for being part of our journey—here’s to an inspiring and impactful 2025!
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STANDOUT STORIES FROM 2024 |
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Food as Medicine: Dig Deeper into the Connection Between Nutrition and Health
Food as medicine (FaM) is capturing people’s attention across the United States, from the federal government to public health officials, large corporations, nonprofits, and venture capitalists. Understanding and visualizing community-level needs and social determinants of health is essential to implementing FaM interventions, as it enables stakeholders to address diet-related diseases, reduce healthcare costs, and enhance community health more effectively. Learn how PolicyMap can help.
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Mapping Homelessness: Visualizing Trends and Challenges
In the wake of the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision backing anti-camping laws, which significantly impacts homeless individuals across the nation, PolicyMap’s U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Homelessness data update comes at a crucial time. This refreshed dataset provides essential insights into homelessness, helping communities and policymakers better understand and respond to the ever-evolving challenges faced by homeless populations.
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Navigating the Silence: Social Isolation and Loneliness Among Older Adults
Recent data highlights the severe health impacts of social isolation and loneliness, particularly among low-income, underserved, and vulnerable subpopulations. Learn how to use PolicyMap to visualize the impacts of social isolation and explore the intersectionality of multiple risk factors.
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Mapping Maternal Vulnerability: Insights to Drive Change
Maternal mortality in the U.S. remains alarmingly high, particularly for Black women, whose risk far exceeds that of other groups. Healthcare for women has been a longstanding problem in the United States for numerous reasons including cost, access, insurance coverage, and state and federal policies. In 2022, over 22 women died for every 100,000 live births. Explore the data behind this urgent public health crisis.
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PolicyMap & RTI International Collaborate on ADRD Research Model
PolicyMap is collaborating with RTI International to research and map the factors contributing to disparities in Alzheimer’s Disease & Related Dementias, or ADRD. This month, Dr. Jazmyne McNeese, Senior Data Analyst at PolicyMap, joins the research team for a roundtable discussion on the Healthy Intersections Podcast. Listen as they discuss disparities in the prevalence of ADRD and explore some of the top modifiable risk factors for ADRD.
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Investing in Communities: Understanding Trends and Needs
Discover how PolicyMap can aid organizations in identifying eligible areas for grant funding to address climate risks and promote inclusive growth. Explore the significance of comprehending population dynamics and domestic migration data in locating investment areas for initiatives such as the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund. While census data highlights growing areas, IRS migration data offers deeper insights into the movement of US taxpayers and their economic status.
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Addressing Diversity in Clinical Research: Data for Alignment with New FDA Guidelines
The FDA will soon require BioPharma companies and Clinical Research Organizations (CROs) to meet new diversity requirements in clinical trials, ensuring studies are inclusive and representative of all populations. This policy update, coupled with increasing awareness of disparities in clinical research access, underscores the urgent need for a more equitable distribution of research opportunities. Learn how PolicyMap can support the move toward greater inclusivity.
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Limited Supermarket Access (LSA) Analysis
For over a decade, Reinvestment Fund’s Limited Supermarket Access (LSA) Analysis has guided strategic decision-making to increase access to fresh foods for residents living in places with inadequate and inequitable access to grocery stores. Using the data, community stakeholders can identify underserved locations, estimate demand, and plan appropriate interventions. Reinvestment Fund’s LSA analysis is accepted by the CDFI Fund as eligibility criteria for federally-funded healthy food lending and is available for all users on PolicyMap.
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STANDOUT NEWS FROM 2024 |
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PolicyMap and Surgo Health Partner to Drive Awareness of the Critical State of Maternal Care in the U.S.
PolicyMap announced the integration of Surgo Health’s Granular Maternity Vulnerability Index (gMVI) into its platform. This collaboration empowers users to visualize maternal health vulnerabilities alongside social determinants of health data, enabling targeted interventions to address disparities and improve maternal outcomes across the U.S.
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PolicyMap’s SDOH Data Now Available on Snowflake Marketplace: Empowering Healthcare, Life Sciences, and Social Impact Professionals with Cloud-Based Geospatial Insights
PolicyMap announced the availability of PolicyMap’s Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) dataset on the Snowflake Marketplace. This integration gives Snowflake users instant, cloud-based access to PolicyMap’s extensive geospatial data, streamlining how organizations can analyze, interpret, and act on the non-medical drivers of health within communities.
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PolicyMap future-proof access with OpenAthens single sign-on
PolicyMap announced integration with OpenAthens to future-proof access to its comprehensive mapping and analytics platform, giving users a simple and seamless access experience.
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In 2024, PolicyMap introduced many new datasets and updated hundreds of existing indicators, ensuring users have access to the latest and most comprehensive data to support their health initiatives.
Below is a selection of the most in-demand and impactful health and SDOH datasets:
New indicators from the Council on Environmental Quality’s Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool (CEJST) have been added to PolicyMap. CEJST was developed to identify disadvantaged communities that face burdens across eight categories: climate change, energy, health, housing, legacy pollution, transportation, water and wastewater, and workforce development.
CMS Chronic Conditions data update is now live on Policymap.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Environmental Justice Screening and Mapping Tool (EJScreen) is now available on PolicyMap!
FEMA’s National Risk Index (NRI) is now available on PolicyMap.
The MapMealGap dataset from Feeding America is updated to 2022 on PolicyMap. A new indicator has been added called Food Insecure Persons Not Eligible for SNAP.
Surgo Ventures Maternal Vulnerability Index (MVI) is available.The MVI identifies where and why mothers in the United States are vulnerable to poor health outcomes.
Urinary Bladder Cancer has been added to the list of cancers we provide from the CDC Cancer Incidence dataset. Urinary Bladder Cancer incidence rates and counts are available for all pre-existing time periods and by race/ethnicity.
The new CDC Heat and Health Index (HHI) has been added to PolicyMap. The Heat and Health Index (HHI) helps identify communities where people are most likely to experience harmful effects from heat.
We are committed to our promise of curated, cleaned, standardized, and always updated data. We’re posting real-time updates on our website and X (formerly known as Twitter).
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Open PolicyMap Training Sessions
Offered twice a week. Register here.
Level 1: Learning the basics of PolicyMap Level 2: Learn the Data Loader, Multi-Layer Maps, and other Advanced Features
Open to non-subscribers. Course times rotate weekly. Don’t see a time that works for you?
Contact us.
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