A new community violence dashboard has been launched by the Unified Government Health Department.
The dashboard provides statistics about patterns of ongoing community violence in Wyandotte County, along with information about resources available for victims of violence and those who want to help lower incidents of violence in the community, according to a spokesman.
To view the new dashboard visit https://dashboards.mysidewalk.com/violence-outcomes/violence-is-a-public-health-crisis.
“This dashboard provides guidance to help our community take action to prevent violence,” said Hannah Conner, epidemiologist with the Unified Government Public Health Department. “We feel the information provided on this dashboard is important to educate community members and stakeholders about how social determinants of health, including structural racism, have led to increased violence in the community. The data provided by the dashboard can also help inform policy and organizational decisions about violence and violence prevention in the community.”
Information on the new dashboard includes:
• An overview of social determinants of health, and how big, systemic patterns can cause local health consequences
o Healthy People 2030 provides this definition: “Social determinants of health (SDOH) are the conditions in the environments where people are born, live, learn, work, play, worship, and age that affect a wide range of health, functioning, and quality-of-life outcomes and risks.”
(https://health.gov/healthypeople/objectives-and-data/social-determinants-health)
o One of the biggest SDOH impacting Wyandotte County is structural racism, caused by historical decisions, policies, and norms that have disproportionately segregated communities of color, especially Black communities, from important resources. Learn more about racism and health: https://www.cdc.gov/healthequity/racism-disparities/index.html .
• Current statistics on violence in Wyandotte County.
o Homicide is the number one cause of death among residents aged 15-44 in Wyandotte County.
o Deaths by firearms for youth ages 15-24 occurred at twice the rate of people ages 45-54 from 2014 to 2018.
o Tracking years of potential life lost (YPPL) emphasizes the impact of deaths among youth. Black community members are consistently losing more years to homicide than White or Hispanic community members.
• Detailed reports of risk and protective factors and how they rank in Wyandotte County
o Examples of protective factors against violence in a community include access to mental healthcare, community connectedness, and quality schools.
o Examples of risk factors for violence in a community include neighborhood poverty, housing problems, and lack of economic opportunities.
• Current initiatives in Wyandotte County to reduce and prevent violence
o This list includes a variety of initiatives and organizational partnerships working to prevent violence across the county. It also includes organizations that help residents of the county have access to everything they need to thrive.
o You can go directly to the list at this link: https://dashboards.mysidewalk.com/violence-outcomes/current-initiatives-within-wyandotte-county.
- Story from UG Health Department