The links below contained detailed information for the upcoming 2017 Safe States Alliance Annual Meeting, taking place September 12-14, 2017 in Aurora, Colorado.
Please note:
- A total of five concurrent sessions will take place during the Annual Meeting, and there will be up to five breakouts occurring simultaneously during each of those concurrent sessions. Within each breakout, there will be up to four presentations that take place.
- This online system does not allow us to embed the individual presentations within each breakout. Please note the session presentations listed under each Concurrent Breakout title for associated content.
- The on-site mobile app WILL embed these sessions for ease of use.
- A printable, detailed agenda can be found on the 2017 Annual Meeting website.
- If you have any questions, please contact info@safestates.org
- All session times and locations are tentative and subject to change. Safe States will continue to update these details as changes take place.
Automation and Dissemination of Surveillance Reporting from the North Carolina Violent Death Reporting System
Learning Objectives
- Explain how the use of automation has improved surveillance communication and dissemination of injury and violence surveillance data in North Carolina
- Discuss how stakeholder access to resources produced by the North Carolina Injury Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit is being monitored.
Statement of Purpose
The North Carolina Injury Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit produces over 100 injury and violence related factsheets and surveillance reports each year. Over one fifth depict information from the North Carolina Violent Death Reporting System (NC-VDRS). Generating these products can be a time-consuming process requiring data to be compiled, analyzed and then translated into meaningful information for stakeholders. Automation of this process using Excel formulas has drastically improved timely communication of surveillance efforts. Understanding when and where these products are accessed can identify the most successful communication channels for dissemination.
Methods/Approach
Microsoft Excel was used to automate templates for NC-VDRS factsheets. A series of formulas were used to automatically feed data copied into the workbook into a summary sheet pre-formatted for printing. Free text, figures, headers, and footnotes were also automated. Updated factsheets were then posted onto the Injury and Violence Prevention Branch (IVPB) website. Links to the updated factsheets were also included in the quarterly IVPB newsletter.
Results
Previously, a single NC-VDRS factsheet would take upwards of 3 hours to produce after the data was analyzed. Automation has reduced that time to 30 minutes, resulting in a total time-saving of 60 hours for the NC-VDRS factsheets alone. The IVPB newsletter reached 241 people. Efforts are also underway to track the traffic to the IVPB website to help facilitate effective data dissemination.
Conclusions & Significance to the Field
Initially, the automation process is time-intensive. However, after completing automation the time and effort required to update NC-VDRS factsheets was drastically reduced. This allowed for more timely dissemination of data to support programmatic work across the state. It has also allowed time to be redirected to new projects and to respond to additional data requests. Including links to updated factsheets in the IVPB newsletter has helped to reach additional stakeholders. Monitoring the traffic to the website will also identify if additional outlets are needed for dissemination. Automation and communication efforts will continue to be expanded and monitored to improve the efficiency and the reach of the Unit.
Presenters
Shana Geary, NC Division of Public Health, Injury and Violence Prevention Branch
Biography
Ms. Shana Geary is a Council for State and Territorial Epidemiology (CSTE) Applied Epidemiology Fellow placed in the Injury and Violence Prevention Branch at the North Carolina Division of Public Health. The Fellowship is a national program to build and strengthen applied epidemiology capacity in state and local health departments. Shana is working with the NC Violent Death Reporting System and other surveillance systems on injury surveillance and improving this surveillance across systems. Shana graduated with her Masters of Public Health in Epidemiology and Maternal and Child Health from the University of South Florida College of Public Health.