Topic categories

The Health Equity Tracker (HET) was initially conceived in 2020 as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic to aggregate demographic data from severely affected communities. While our tool offers a detailed view of health outcomes categorized by race, ethnicity, sex, and other significant factors, it is essential to acknowledge the limitations. One of the inherent constraints is that the tracker currently aggregates data from sources that are nation-wide in scope. Our current 25 key sources, including the CDC and the U.S. Census Bureau are reputable, well established sources, but might not provide the availability and granularity of data that can be obtained from individual county or city-specific providers.

Our focus extends beyond just pandemic-related statistics; the tracker encompasses thousands of report configurations, covering chronic diseases like COPD and diabetes, behavioral health indicators such as opioid misuse, and social and political determinants including uninsurance rates and poverty levels. These topics, along with multiple demographic and geographic filtering options, were deliberately chosen to provide a multi-dimensional view of health equity, guiding policymakers towards understanding the unique challenges and needs of diverse communities.

Categories

Each category has its own methodology page with definitions for every topic.

• Behavioral Health: Depression, Excessive Drinking, Frequent Mental Distress, Suicide, Opioid and Other Substance Misuse
• Chronic Diseases: Asthma, Cardiovascular Diseases, Chronic Kidney Disease, COPD, Diabetes
• Community Safety: Gun Deaths, Gun Homicides (Black Men), Gun Homicides and Suicides (Homicides, Suicides), Gun Deaths (Youth) (Children, Young Adults)
• Maternal Health: Maternal Mortality, Severe Maternal Morbidity
• COVID-19: COVID-19 Vaccinations, COVID-19 (Cases, Deaths, Hospitalizations)
• HIV: HIV (Prevalence, New diagnoses, Deaths), HIV (Black Women) (Prevalence for Black Women, New Diagnoses for Black Women, Deaths for Black women), Linkage to HIV Care, PrEP Coverage, HIV Stigma
• Cancer: Cancer (Breast cancer, Cervical cancer, Colorectal cancer, Lung cancer, Prostate cancer), Cancer Screening (Breast cancer, Prostate cancer, Colorectal cancer, Cervical cancer, Lung cancer)
• Medication Utilization in the Medicare Population: Cardiovascular Conditions and Medication Adherence, HIV Conditions and Medication Adherence, Mental Health Conditions and Medication Adherence
• Political Determinants of Health (PDOH): Incarceration (Prison, Jail), Voter Participation, Women Serving in Legislative Office (US Congress, State legislatures)
• Social Determinants of Health (SDOH): Care Avoidance Due to Cost, Uninsured Individuals, Poverty, Preventable Hospitalization