This November, Philadelphia Health Management Corporation (PHMC) was awarded a three-year grant from The William Penn Foundation in support of its Community Health Data Base project. The funds will be used to continue to support the project’s public health research and to enhance the project’s technical assistance to community-based nonprofits in the Southeastern Pennsylvania region.

PHMC’s Community Health Data Base is known for conducting primary research through its bi-annual survey of more than 10,000 households. The project’s Southeastern Pennsylvania Household Health Survey covers a number of public health issues and is shaped, in part, by the information needs of local health and social service providers. While the survey includes information on all segments of the population, the neighborhood-level data capabilities of PHMC’s Household Health Survey are supportive of The Foundation’s Neighborhood-Based Youth Development Strategy.  PHMC’s Household Health Survey includes questions regarding children’s physical health, as well as questions pertaining to learning disabilities, child care, youth engagement in after-school activities and employment, and lifestyle and behaviors that may encourage obesity, such as screen time, exercise and nutrition.

This new grant follows a groundbreaking grant provided to PHMC by The William Penn Foundation in 2000 that helped the Community Health Data Base create a framework for working with community-based nonprofits on an ongoing, consultative basis.  The Community Health Data Base’s Affiliate program is geared toward the data needs of smaller nonprofits in need of not only data, but also coaching in the selection and use data to measure outcomes. This new grant will continue to help strengthen PHMC’s services and outreach to community-based anchor institutions throughout the region, including Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties.

The Community Health Data Base is supported by The Pew Charitable Trusts, The William Penn Foundation, The United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania, The Healthcare Resources Foundation, The Philadelphia Foundation and area health and human service providers.  The Community Health Data Base’s Membership program  provides unlimited, first-hand access to survey results for agencies working to better understand and serve community health needs. Members include hospitals and health systems, public health agencies, managed care organizations, and universities.

For more information about PHMC’s Community Health Data Base and how your agency can participate, please contact Siobhan@phmc.org or visit www.phmc.org/chdb .