Health Equity Community Exchange

HISTORY

The Health Equity Community Exchange is the culmination of a robust statewide search of all organizations forwarding health equity initiatives and all publicly available local resources and research related to health disparities, health outcomes of marginalized communities in the state of Colorado. The project originated as a follow-up to The Colorado Trust’s State of the Field Report with a goal of creating an online infrastructure for health equity work in Colorado facilitating increased coordinated advocacy, and collective efficacy maximizing limited resources in the field. The site has 3 main purposes: to learn, to connect, and to communicate. Data collected by the University of Denver through public search and through a follow up survey of the State of the Field report administered by The Colorado Trust have been integrated into a public, web-based searchable database to connect the many public health agencies, non-profit organizations, academic institutions, community organizations, and clinics committed to health equity for ALL Coloradans. This site is intentionally dynamic and will be organically co-produced through participation and feedback of health equity focused organizations, advocates, policy analysts and health practitioners in Colorado.

The Health Equity Community Exchange research originated in Spring 2019 through the Metro Denver Partnership for Health with research led by the University of Denver Department of Biological Sciences, IRISE (Interdisciplinary Research Institute for the Study of Inequality), and the Computer Science Department. The Steering Committee was established in February 2020 comprising leadership from Colorado Public Health Association, Denver Department of Public Health and the Environment, Denver Health, Silver Thread Public Health, One Colorado, Envision You, and Mountain Youth. Technical development was provided by students in the University of Denver Computer Science Department in Spring 2020 and is ongoing. The site is scheduled to officially launch in summer 2021.