Somerset County Maryland Health Department
Data Visualization at Somerset County Health Department
The Challenge
Disjointed data sources and a lack of ability to understand and visualize data.
While the state of Maryland reports on overdose fatality data, Somerset County Health Department was interested in visualizing data at the county level which was not previously available. Somerset County Health and Avaap partnered to create the dashboard from the most recent publicly available dataset from the Maryland Department of Health and the Census Bureau. Somerset County Health Department introduced a new section on their website called Statistics & Reports, with the intention to supplement this section with additional data insights in the future.
25,000
residents
Southern
most county in state
1.2 M
Residents in metro area
Key Highlights
OVERDOSE FATALITY DASHBOARD POWERED BY TABLEAU
The Tableau dashboard includes overdose fatalities from ten substances and overall opioid and non-opioid related death trends over the last ten years. One of the greatest insights of the dashboard is the ability to compare the county, region, and state fatality rates using a rate of per 100,000 people. This highlights that although Somerset County’s fatality counts are fewer than other Maryland counties, the rate per 100,000 people is above the region and state level in 2020 (the most recent year data is available).
DATA-DRIVEN INSIGHTS FOR COUNTY HEALTH DEPARTMENT
The Somerset County Health Department created the public dashboard to bring awareness to substance fatalities in the county and aid in the overdose response efforts through receiving programming funding, allocating resources, and providing coordinated planning. In the first month of public availability, the dashboard had more than 1,000 views.
SOMERSET COUNTY is the southernmost county in the state of Maryland. With a population of close to 25,000 people, Somerset County Health Department’s mission is to serve the public by preventing illness, promoting wellness, and protecting the health of the community.
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