Resources: Prioritizing and Clarifying Data

Communities Working Together for a Healthier New York - Opportunities To Improve the Health of New Yorkers(pdf, 89 pages)Report by the Public Health Priorities Committee that describes the process and identifies 12 priority areas for public health action in New York through Year 2006.

Community Health Data Set: The New York State Community Health Data Set consists of a series of tables, maps and graphs containing health statistics organized under 19 health-related sections by county of residence.

Developing Objectives for Healthy People 2010: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, 1997 Report. Provides information on the process for developing the nation's third set of disease prevention and health promotion objectives and includes a 1997 Summary List of Objectives. It describes how to get involved.

Laying the Foundation for Healthy People 2010: Written by Maiese, D., Fox, C.E. Public Health Reports, January 1998. This article summarizes activities implemented to gain input from people on Healthy People 2010, with hopes that these efforts will be duplicated by states and communities in their own planning processes.

Leading Health Indicators for Healthy People 2010: Final Report Committee on Leading Health Indicators for Healthy People 2010, Division of Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, Institute of Medicine, 1999. This report is a compilation of the committee's efforts to establish leading health indicator sets that could "focus on health and social issues as well as evoke response and action from the general public and the traditional audiences for Healthy People."

PATCH - Chapter 4: Choosing health priorities (pdf, 13 pages) Has a concept guide for participants and meeting guide for facilitators (pdf,16 pages) that describe the process of identifying priorities, goals and objectives.

Maryland School Improvement Project's discussion on "Clarifying the Problem":Describes tools for problem solving, and defining the problem such as fishbone technique, hypothesis testing among others. It can be adapted to community needs.