ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Allentown residents can use a new online tool to learn about the city's public health challenges and responses.
Allentown officials on Thursday published a Community Health Needs Assessment dashboard on the city's website.
Mayor Matt Tuerk’s office in a release Thursday said the online tool “represents a significant milestone” as the city works to improve transparency while addressing “key health challenges.”
The dashboard features 13 sections, including the full Community Health Needs Assessment report and information on demographics, communicable and chronic diseases, housing, food security and more.
Resident surveys revealed “there is a large gap in perceived economic opportunities” between men and women who responded.Allentown's new Community Health Needs Assessment dashboard
The tool also includes the Community Health Improvement Plan, a systematic "effort to address public health problems” identified by the assessment.
Officials will use the dashboard to measure the city's progress toward its goals, which include boosting affordable housing and economic mobility while reducing social isolation, according to the release.
The Allentown Health Bureau spent almost a year performing a community health needs assessment, in which city staff worked with focus groups, community leaders and organizations, and other stakeholders.
More than 700 residents also weighed in through surveys, with many telling officials that poverty, pollution, violent crime and homelessness are among the most common issues affecting their quality of life.
Those surveys also revealed “there is a large gap in perceived economic opportunities” between men and women who responded.
The dashboard is to be updated periodically as the city receives and compiles new public health-related data.
