Connecting the Dots: Building a Data-Driven Narrative to Shape Public Policy

Background:  This PowerPoint presentation will detail the genesis, development and impact of Georgia’s Partner Up! for Public Health Campaign’s highly successful “Connecting the Dots” message, which illustrates the relationship between community health and economic vitality – and explores political and policy questions that arise from that relationship.

Program background:  Partner Up! for Public Health, a statewide advocacy campaign initiated in 2009, was designed as part of a multifaceted effort to rebuild a public health system decimated over the past decade by state budget cuts.  Early in the campaign, Partner Up! began efforts to engage the business community, with tepid results.  Business leaders expressed little interest and proved reluctant to become involved. Given the Georgia business community’s influence on such policy matters, Partner Up! viewed this as a major obstacle to the campaign’s ultimate goal of improving Georgia’s public health system and, ultimately, health status of the broader population.

Evaluation Methods and Results:  The Partner Up! campaign decided it needed to, in effect, go back to square one and reeducate business leaders about the relationship between community health and economic strength – and, in the process, demonstrate the high cost of poor health.  To reach the business community in terms it could understand, Partner Up! analyzed the correlation between county economic vitality rankings set by the Georgia Department of Community Affairs and health outcomes rankings determined by the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute. The results were dramatic. Of the 10 counties with the best economic rankings, six also ranked in the top 10 for health outcomes and two others in the second 10. Among the bottom 10 counties for eco­nomic rankings, the match-ups were less precise, but still telling. The pattern held up when Partner Up! developed color-coded maps which visually illustrated the correlations and clearly suggested a powerful relationship between economic vitality and population health. The Partner Up! campaign then was able to demonstrate an economic consequence. Partner Up! analyzed county-level Medicaid expenditure data and found that counties in the bottom tier for both health and economic indicators had per capita Medicaid costs nearly $450 higher than counties in the top tier for both categories. Finally, the campaign’s analysis spotlighted a marked difference between urban and rural counties. As rank in health and economic vitality fell, counties were more likely to be rural. The health disparities experienced in rural counties were now measurably linked to economic vitality.

Conclusions: Although the findings presented in “Connecting the Dots” are not surprising to public health professionals, they have proven to be new and enlightening for business and in some cases political leaders. “Connecting the Dots” has been presented to more than two dozen audiences throughout Georgia, including the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, the Georgia Association of Regional Commissions, and a meeting of key state legislative leaders. 

Implications for research and/or practice:  “Connecting the Dots” data-driven narrative engages target audiences and contributes in demonstrable ways to important public policy discussions about the rehabilitation of Georgia’s public health system.