The Healthy Whatcom Team, with support from the Whatcom County Health Department and PeaceHealth, hosted a data carousel on April 24, 2019 for 90 community stakeholders.
A data carousel is a rigorous community process intentionally designed so that the wisdom and experience of every person in the room is an important part of the selection process. Participants go through five protocols to more deeply understand how health and well-being are experienced and to identify a few relevant, actionable priorities that align with Whatcom County community needs.
Results:
During the data carousel, participants were organized into groups according to their expertise. Each group focused on one topic, and in the first four protocols, determined the most important thing to focus on in that topic area. Once a root cause was identified, all participants reviewed information presented by each group before selecting their top three recommendations for priority topics. The topics below were voted as the top three priorities.
Child homeless is high and increasing. Focusing question: Why is homelessness among children in our community so high and trending worse?
Child care availability, affordability, & staff compensation. Focusing question: Why doesn’t our child care model work for anyone involved?
Reported rates of anxiety, depression, & suicide ideation are high and trending poorly, especially among female, LGBTQ, and American Indian / Alaska Native youth. Focusing question: Why are more youth reporting mental health concerns?