HP2020 Action Project in Hawaii: From Data to Partnerships

BACKGROUND:  The Hawaii Health Data Warehouse (HHDW), created in 2004 to track the State of Hawaii’s progress toward Healthy People (HP) 2010 goals, is a data repository for the state’s major health surveys and vital statistics.  The HHDW website is organized by HP2010 topic area, and displays 10-year data trends for over 600 indicators.  A sister website, Hawaii Health Matters (HHM), contains fewer indicators that are contextualized, and may be used to track indicators derived from non-HHDW data sources.  Transitioning both websites to tracking HP2020 goals required a thorough review of HP2020 indicators against existing indicators, retiring old indicators, prioritizing the creation of new indicators, and revamping the HHDW website to be organized by HP2020 topic areas; for the HHM website, the transition involved populating a newly created HP2020 tracker with chosen HP2020 indicators.

METHODS:  An internal review of all HP2020 objectives was conducted by topic area, and complemented by meetings with key internal and external stakeholders to elicit feedback on such topics as indicator definition and priority level of the indicator based on program needs/goals.  Simultaneously, the HHDW website was redesigned to align with HP2020 topic areas, and internal/external stakeholder input was obtained on the new website design.  A collaborative HP2020 webpage was built on the HHDW website that reflected the needs and input of health programs in Hawaii, and indicators were added in order of programmatic priority.

RESULTS:  During Year 1, 1,202 (100%) unique HP2020 objectives underwent internal review, and were parsed into those with existing indicators, those for which exact or proxy indicators could be built, and those for which no known state-level data sources existed.  900 (74.9%) objectives were additionally reviewed in 32 meetings with multiple stakeholders.  A total of 106 existing indicators, and 164 high priority indicators to be built were identified.  The HHDW website was realigned with HP2020 topic areas.  Input from program partners was sought during all key decision points.  During Year 2, 149 new indicators were added, and follow-up activities on multiple indicators on hold are underway.

CONCLUSIONS:  The critical benefit that the HP2020 transition project offered was an opportunity to educate programs on HP2020 and engage internal and external stakeholders.  This process enhanced departmental visibility and attention to HP2020, and encouraged a mutually beneficial process of tailoring programmatic goals and the HHDW to HP2020 and to one another.  The process also improved the familiarity, utilization, and dissemination of HHDW resources among stakeholders in Hawaii.