Constructing Within-City Neighborhood Health Rankings in Philadelphia by Using Data From the 500 Cities Project

Abstract

What is already known on this topic?Health rankings can facilitate understanding of health disparities across geographic place and identify areas of high need for public health intervention. However, research is limited on how to create health rankings within cities, rather than between cities. What is added by this report?We used local data from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and publicly available data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's 500 Cities Project to create within-city neighborhood health rankings.What are the implications for public health practice?Our methods serve as a model for other cities aiming to create and communicate data on within-city geographic health disparities.

Justice First: Interdisciplinary Approaches in Environmental Justice Research and Efforts

“…The study was conducted in Philadelphia where varying health outcomes ranks are in place (Whitley et al. 2021). The study first considers neighborhood and park diversity, primarily due to the relationship between inefficient housing infrastructure and rodent exposure (i.e., energy injustice).…”

State and Local Health Departments: Research, Surveillance, and Evidence-Based Public Health Practices

“…Two articles focus on the development of epidemiologic tools and techniques that may be useful for others. Whitley et al ( 6 ) describe in detail their approach to creating health rankings for Philadelphia neighborhoods by using data from the 500 Cities Project ( 7 ) as well as locally accessible data; and Foraker et al describe their open-source tool that can allow health agencies to map COVID-19 (or other) cases to the street level and show geographic changes over time to better plan public health response ( 8 ).…”