Tracking Data Assists Regional Planning Efforts

Submission Date: April 2015

State/Territory Submitted on the Behalf of: Iowa

States/Territories Involved: Iowa

Funding Source: CDC

CDC Funding:

Yes

CDC Funding (Specified):

Other CDC Funding

Domain Addressed:

Epidemiology and Surveillance

Public Health Issue:

Community Planners Need Information to Make Good Decisions

• Designing communities that encourage healthy choices and reduce harmful environmental exposures is vital for the health of a community’s residents. Applying knowledge about population health and movement in a given area helps city planners make the best possible decisions about future transportation, infrastructure, and other projects.

Program Action:

Tracking Data Helps Estimate Population Changes Over Time

• Iowa Public Health Tracking provided the Metropolitan Area Planning Agency (MAPA) for the Omaha, NE/Council Bluffs, IA metro area with easy access to 30 years of vital records data for four Iowa counties in a format not previously available. The birth and death records were combined with census data to create age-specific fertility and death rates and to estimate population migration at the county level.

Impact/Accomplishments:

Tracking Data Helps Estimate Population Changes Over Time

• Iowa Public Health Tracking provided the Metropolitan Area Planning Agency (MAPA) for the Omaha, NE/Council Bluffs, IA metro area with easy access to 30 years of vital records data for four Iowa counties in a format not previously available. The birth and death records were combined with census data to create age-specific fertility and death rates and to estimate population migration at the county level.
• “These population forecasts are being used to develop a spatial land use allocation model for our federally mandated regional socio-economic forecasts and transportation modeling as well as assisting MAPA in the three year HUD Sustainable Communities Grant (Heartland 2050).” Paul Hunt , GIS Coordinator,Metropolitan Area Planning Agency (MAPA)

Program Areas:

Epidemiology and Surveillance

State Contact Information:

IA
Iowa Public Health Tracking Program

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