Public Health Short Courses: Using Data Effectively

Instructors: Shandy Dearth, director of Center for Public Health Practice, IU Fairbanks School of Public Health; Dr. Thomas Duszynski, clinical assistant professor, IU Fairbanks School of Public Health

Course objectives:

1. Understanding IRBs in public health work
   • Why IRB may be required
   • Where to go to find IRB process
   • What is the norm for public health practice for IRBs
2. How data moves in public health.
   • Who collects it.
   • Legal authority to collect it. (HIPAA PH exceptions and allowances)
   • When it can be shared.
   • Restrictions on public sharing of data (cell size masking, etc.).
3. Data sources commonly used in public health.
   • US Census
   • CDC Wonder
   • Cancer registries
   • Notifiable conditions/lab reports
   • Syndromic surveillance
   • Environmental Public Health Tracking (explain how environmental health and population human health databases are not usually linked and how this creates issues).
4. Public health data partners/resources in Indiana/US, groups where to present data
   • CSTE
   • NACCHO
   • CDC
   • APHL
   • NEHA
   • Polis
   • IBRC
   • Indyindicators, Indianaindicators
   • IPHA
   • IRHA
   • IDOH infectious diseases summit

Examples of public health data put into action.

1. 1. • How the data were collected and used for change.
      • Communicating public health data to the public versus other colleagues
      • Misinformation in public health and how to combat it