Using SAS Enterprise Guide to Analyze County-Level Data for Five Priority Health Areas

BACKGROUND:   Mentorship focused on helping the mentee learn how to use SAS Enterprise Guide to analyze data for the county’s top five health issues (obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, lung cancer and access to care).  Mentee also received assistance in determining ways to increase utilization of health data within the department and among external stakeholders (local hospitals, community groups, education entities, etc.).

METHODS:   Maricopa County Department of Public Health (MCDPH) has implemented a five-year Community Health Improvement Plan for the top five health issues (obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, lung cancer, and access to care) affecting our community. This plan is aligned with the National Prevention Strategy and the Arizona Chronic Disease Strategic Plan (ACDSP) which emphasizes the importance of coordinating these efforts with our community partners. MCDPH has organized the CHIP plan into five main categories: 1) Needs assessment; 2) Coordination of public health partnerships; 3) Implementation of strategies (with emphasis on evidence based strategies); 4) Coordination of communication; and 5) Evaluation of efforts. 

RESULTS:   The NACDD epidemiology mentoring program gave the mentee an opportunity to receive direct technical assistance in SAS Enterprise Guide and learn how to better analyze chronic disease data.  Mentee has also received guidance in making data more user-friendly to increase use of data among MCDPH program staff and the general public.

CONCLUSIONS:   As this competency‐ and project‐based chronic disease epidemiology mentoring program enters another cycle from design to broader implementation, final deliverable products are expected to be completed by the fall of 2014. The MMPs enhance state chronic disease program activities. Further demonstration of usefulness of the mentoring program can help sustain mentoring program operations in the future.