Data Visualization & Health Equity Best Practices Checklist

This checklist is intended to be used by public health professionals to guide the development of data communication materials and assist with addressing equity related to race, gender, sexual orientation, ability, etc. It should be used in conjunction with the Health Equity Communications Checklist if data are being presented or visualized. It is common public health practice to stratify health outcome data by race and/or other identifying factors to illustrate disparities between groups. However, an unintentional consequence is the blame placed on certain races, ages, or groups of people represented in these data. Data presentation has the power to either engage or alienate communities, as it can en-courage audiences to focus on individual behaviors, as opposed to systematic issues. It is vital to display data in the most responsible, reflective and representative way. Our goal is to present data in a context that illuminates the social determinants of health and structural variables that contribute to the disparity in poor health outcomes. The focus of the data should be to highlight the root causes of systemic issues leading to health challenges.