Spring 2024 Newsletter

Click here to check out our updated website!
The Colorado SEOW website has some new and exciting features that were launched this month! 

Accessible Design: The Colorado SEOW is committed to providing equitable access to our content and has updated the website this month to meet WCAG 2.1 AA guidelines.
Fonts, colors and other design elements were intentionally chosen to ensure that our content is accessible to all individuals.   
Interactive Graphics: The 2023 epidemiological profiles pages were also updated to showcase key data points from the publications in an interactive manner. The updated graphics allow users to share and download key data points that can be used to easily disseminate the information.
Health Statistics Regional Profiles (Coming Soon): This summer the Colorado SEOW will be releasing its first series of Health Statistics Regional Profiles. The purpose of these profiles is to provide an overview of localized data to community members and individuals working around substance misuse prevention and treatment as a resource for understanding substance use trends that can be used to inform local initiatives, programs, policies, and other activities.  

The Denver Post recently published a series of four articles addressing alcohol harms, prevention, and treatment in Colorado. Work from the SEOW was highlighted in multiple articles to inform readers about the issue and outlining local strategies to address it. 

Denver Post subscribers can view the article, here.

Join us for our two sessions at the Shared Risk and Protective Factors Conference!
Title: Dashboard Burnout: Advancing Equity Through Interactive Infographics
Online session: May 21, 2024 8:45-9:45AM (Beginner Level)
In-person session: May 30, 2024 4:45-5:45PM (Advanced Level)

Abstract

Anyone involved in substance use prevention work who loves data is always looking for new ways to present data in an easily understandable, accessible, and eye-catching manner to facilitate meaningful conversations about substance use and related consequences within their communities. Dashboards are popular for their ability to distill large amounts of data into concise and interactive visualizations. However, they often present data points in a segmented format that lacks a flow to guide the reader through the information, making it difficult to tell or see a cohesive “data story." In this session, we will introduce an interactive infographic platform called Infogram that allows users to present the data in an interpretive format that is more widely accessible to broad and diverse audiences, other than data nerds, which is crucial to advancing equity. 

This interactive workshop will show participants the power of presenting data within a story format and equip them with the knowledge and skills to create their own interactive infographic. During the activity section, participants will team up to create sample interactive infographics using Infogram software.

For more information and to register for the conference, click here.

The Culture of Data conference brings together community groups, academia, state/local government, healthcare entities and nonprofit organizations that share a goal of achieving health equity. The Culture of Data conference is designed to strengthen the use of data to support the CPHA vision of creating the healthiest Colorado for everyone by:

• Sharing innovative practices that promote partnership and collaboration between community members and public health professionals to make data more accessible, meaningful, and actionable.
• Exploring examples of data sharing with and by communities and how communities can leverage data to advance health equity and health outcomes. 
• Highlighting data sources and methodologies to identify and measure community assets and health equity.

This year's Culture of Data conference aims to showcase ways that data is being used for social good – in research, in academia, and in communities across public health content areas. From Big Data to single community focus groups, we seek to highlight how data can yield the insights that we need to work toward more just and equitable public health outcomes. For more information and to register, click here.

The purpose of the NPN Conference is to highlight the latest research in the substance use prevention field. It provides a forum for prevention professionals, coalition leaders, researchers, and federal partners to share research, best practices and promising evaluation results for the purpose of integrating research into prevention practice.

This year, the conference will take place at the Arizona Grand Resort. All presentations will be held in-person. If you are selected to speak at the NPN Conference, you will receive a discounted registration fee. Submission deadline for abstracts is April 11, 2024. For more information, click here.