FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: April 05 2023
Contact: Jon Ebelt, Public Information Officer, DPHHS, (406) 444-0936, (406) 461-3757
jebelt@mt.gov
DPHHS Public Health and Safety Division Achieves Healthy People 2030 Champion Designation
Agency continues to improve Insights dashboard
In celebration of National Public Health Week April 3-9, the Department of Public Health and Human Services (DPHHS) announced today that its Public Health and Safety Division (PHSD) has been recognized as a Healthy People 2030 Champion from the federal Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (ODPHP).
Healthy People 2030 is the fifth iteration of the Healthy People initiative, which sets 10-year data-driven objectives to improve health and well-being nationwide. Healthy People 2030 Champions are public and private organizations that are working to help achieve Healthy People objectives.
“Our staff are committed to improving and protecting the health of Montanans by advancing conditions for healthy living,” says PHSD Administrator Todd Harwell. “ This recognition demonstrates our commitment to the health of Montanans in our daily work.”
ODPHP has recognized many different types of organizations, but only a handful of other state health departments, including Delaware, Iowa, New York, and Vermont. "ODPHP is thrilled to recognize Montana for its work to support the Healthy People 2030 vision," says RADM Paul Reed, MD, ODPHP Director. "Only by collaborating with partners nationwide can we achieve Healthy People 2030's overarching goals and objectives."
Montana has its own data-driven plan to improve the health and well-being of its residents, called the State Health Improvement Plan. Many of the state’s objectives to improve Montana’s health are the same as Healthy People 2030 and are displayed on its new dashboard called “Community Health Insights in the 406.”
The Community Health Insights in the 406 dashboard launched in September 2022 and continues to evolve. Currently, users can navigate through the health topics that are identical to Healthy People 2030 categories. More data continues to be added, and there are plans to include state, regional, and county profiles to the dashboard by July 2023.
The Insights dashboard allows Montanans to explore data by health topics organized into Healthy People 2030 categories such as health conditions, health behaviors, populations, and social determinants of health. For example, users can view specific data by topic and search by year for the number of cancer deaths, the rate of heart disease, the number of drug overdose deaths, or simply the number of births annually in Montana. Users can also compare counties to identify how their county compares with others in the state.
The dashboard allows the user to view the requested data in either table or a trend view and it’s also downloadable.
Insights displays data from sources such as the Montana Vital Statistics (births and deaths), Montana Cancer Registry, Montana Hospital Discharge Data System, and Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey. However, one of the additions by the end of 2023 will include national datasets, including Census data such as the American Community Survey and more.
"We are proud to be recognized as a Healthy People 2030 Champion due to our data-driven approaches to improving health," says Laura Williamson, State Epidemiologist for DPHHS. "We work for a healthier Montana every day alongside numerous other public health organizations throughout the state.”