The United Way of Central and Northeastern Connecticut will be building a framework for health data collection through a $100,000 grant that was awarded by Data Across Sectors for Health.
Led by the Illinois Public Health Institute and Michigan Public Health Institute, the Data Across Sectors for Health (DASH) grant will help United Way with its health data collection and measurement to improve the overall health and wellbeing among state residents.
As one of six recipients nationally to receive funding from DASH, Paula Gilberto, president and CEO of United Way of Central and Northeastern Connecticut, said they are honored to be a recipient and the funds will help with their ongoing progress of finding solutions to various local issues.
“Awards like this one accelerate our progress and allow us to use data to invest in solutions that work,” she said. “We are proud to partner with the Connecticut Hospital Association, Connecticut Health Information Exchange, Connecticut Office of Health Strategy, DataHaven, Trinity Health of New England, and Wellville to advance health data infrastructure for equitable well-being improvement initiatives in the state.”
Based on the grant, DASH supports collaborations to improve the health of communities, promote health equity, and contribute to a culture of health by strengthening information-sharing systems, engaging additional sectors, and building sustainable capacity to work collaboratively toward community goals.
This award will also provide access to funding and support to advance an existing, clearly defined project that aims to improve health, well-being, and equity with a policy or systems-change lens for sustainable impact, according to United Way.
Kelly Sinko, director of Health Innovation at the state Office of Health Strategy, said data is an essential component in understanding where one should target a strategy or if an intervention should persevere or pivot.
“This grant allows a pathway to be laid out giving Health Enhancement Communities and other entities throughout the state a plan to create a better flow and level of data to redress health inequities and social determinants of health,” she said.
The state-wide effort will ensure that everyone in the state can achieve their full potential when it comes to health and wellbeing, as well as making the state more prepared for future pandemics, said Mark Abraham, executive director for the New Haven-based nonprofit DataHaven.
“DataHaven is excited to help drive this new project, which will build on the important work that state agencies and community-based organizations are doing to improve access to information regarding community well-being in Connecticut,” he said.
