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Welcome to the Library's School of Public Health Guide – your gateway to Library resources and information to support students and faculty at UT Southwestern's Peter O'Donnell, Jr. School of Public Health. Librarians are also available to help support your information and research needs:

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National and Global Public Health Resources

American Public Health Association The largest organization of public health professionals in the world, American Public Health Association's (APHA) programs deal with funding for health programs, pollution control, smoking, and professional education in public health.
Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System A product of the CDC, the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) is the nation’s premier system of health-related telephone surveys that collect state data about U.S. residents regarding their health-related risk behaviors, chronic health conditions, and use of preventive services.
The Campbell Collaboration The Campbell Collaboration is an international social science research network that produces high quality, open and policy-relevant evidence syntheses, plain language summaries and policy briefs.
CDC Office of Policy, Performance, and Evaluation At CDC, effective program evaluation is a systematic way to improve and account for public health actions.
Community Tool Box The Community Tool Box is a service of the Center for Community Health and Development at the University of Kansas. Millions of people use the Community Tool Box each year to get help taking action, teaching, and training others in organizing for community development. Dive in to find help assessing community needs and resources, addressing social determinants of health, engaging stakeholders, action planning, building leadership, improving cultural competency, planning an evaluation, and sustaining your efforts over time.
Compendium of Publicly Available Datasets This 300+ page pdf file is a compilation of information on health equity data. This compendium is a useful resource for exploring data related to socioeconomic factors and social determinants of health. It includes datasets and data-related resources developed, maintained, or funded by federal agencies. The compendium is a work in progress that will continue to incorporate datasets and resources from agencies within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and other federal partners.
County Health Rankings & Roadmaps Produced by the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute, this resource provides data, evidence, guidance, and examples to build awareness of the multiple factors that influence health and support leaders in growing community power to improve health equity. The Rankings are unique in their ability to measure the health of nearly every county in all 50 states, and are complemented by guidance, tools, and resources designed to accelerate community learning and action. CHR&R is known for effectively translating and communicating complex data and evidence-informed policy into accessible models, reports, and products that deepen the understanding of what makes communities healthy and inspires and supports improvement efforts. County Health Rankings & Roadmaps’ work is rooted in a sincere belief in health equity, the idea that everyone deserves a fair and just opportunity to be as healthy as possible.
Every CRS Report A coalition of public interest groups, journalists, academics, students, etc. ... advocating for greater access to Congressional Research Service reports.
Global Health A disease threat anywhere is a disease threat everywhere. CDC’s Global Health Center works to protect Americans from dangerous and costly public health threats, including COVID-19, vaccine-preventable diseases, HIV, TB, and malaria—responding when and where health threats arise.
Grey Literature Report (The New York Academy of Medicine) Bimonthly publication of The New York Academy of Medicine Library alerting readers to new publications in public health as they are acquired. The term "grey (or gray) literature" refers to foreign or domestic open source materials that is not usually available through normal publication or distribution methods. Examples include technical reports from government agencies, white papers, or preprints.
HealthEvidence.org Provided by McMaster University, this resource access to 8,907 quality-rated systematic reviews evaluating the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of public health interventions, including cost data.
Healthy People 2020 (Note: This website was archived on 4/13/2022 and is no longer maintained.) The US Department of Health & Human Services is in the process of developing a new set of goals and objectives for the nation's health. This site provides information on the development process, including information about regional meetings, methods of public comment, and timelines.
Healthy People 2030 Healthy People identifies public health priorities to help individuals, organizations, and communities across the United States improve health and well-being. Healthy People 2030, the initiative’s fifth iteration, builds on knowledge gained over the first 4 decades.
Kaiser Family Foundation The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, an independent philanthropy focusing on the major health care issues facing the nation, provides facts and analysis on topics such as health coverage & the uninsured, Medicare, HIV/AIDS, prescription drugs, and minority health.
National Health Information Center A collection of resources and databases under the very broad umbrella of health care. Resources include the Health Information Resource Database (a collection of information on more than 1,000 government agencies and organizations; searchable by keyword or topic), government publications (including Health Observances, Healthy People 2000, and Toll-Free Directory), and Partnerships for Networked Consumer Health Information Conferences.
National Information Center on Health Services Research & Health Care Technology (NICHSR) The National Information Center on Health Services Research & Health Care Technology (NICHSR) ensures that the NLM products address the information needs of the health services research workforce.
National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities NIMHD invests in research and fosters collaborations and partnerships to promote and support evidence-based science to inform practice and policy. Its programs and initiatives provide a leading edge in enhancing the scientific knowledge base and designing interventions to improve health outcomes to reduce and ultimately lead to the elimination of health disparities.
Pew Research Center Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. Pew Research does not take policy positions.
Public Health + (National Collaborating Centre for Methods and Tools) Provides links to articles from more than 140 medical and allied health academic journals. Articles are initially reviewed to determine whether they are methodologically sound. If they are, then the articles are reviewed by clinicians for relevance and newsworthiness. The site is updated weekly, and a searchable archive is available. From the McMaster Health Knowledge Refinery.
Public Health Digital Library The Public Health Digital Library (PHDL) provides state and local public health departments access to library resources, including e-journals, e-books, and databases. Resources support evidence-based practice and research in public health.
Public Health Foundation Provides research and resources to help health agencies and organizations "connect to and more effectively use information to manage and improve performance, understand and use data, and strengthen the workforce." Key resources available from this site include a continuing education and training database (TRAIN), performance standards, workforce development resources, and community health status indicators.
Public Health Image Library (PHIL) Extensive collection of still images, image sets, and multimedia files related to public health. Search for images using 'Quick Search', but advanced search options are also available. Users may search by category (e.g., 'People', 'Places', 'Science', etc.) or image type (e.g., 'Public Domain', 'Copyright Restricted', 'Color', 'Black & white', etc.). From the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Focus on improving both the health of everyone in America and their health care—how it's delivered, how it's paid for, and how well it works for patients and their families.
Rural Health Information Hub Select from a wide range of data on health disparities, health workforce, demographics, and more. Explore how metropolitan and nonmetro counties compare, nationwide and by state.
Social Determinants of Health at CDC Information about how the CDC is addressing the social determinants of Health.
Social Explorer Guide: Public Health Social Explorer is a data visualization tool that brings you allows you to create cool, interactive data maps of characteristics like voting, poverty, ethnicity and race, spending patterns, health indicators, crime, environment, education, and more over time in different cities, regions, and countries.
TheCommunityGuide.org Recommendations in The Community Guide are the gold standard for what works to protect and improve population health. When communities need to know how to protect and improve their population’s health, they turn to The Community Guide, a collection of evidence-based recommendations and findings from the Community Preventive Services Task Force (CPSTF). CPSTF makes evidence-based recommendations about the effectiveness and economic impact of public health programs, services, and other interventions used in real-world settings such as communities, worksites, schools, faith-based organizations, military bases, public health clinics and departments, and integrated healthcare systems.
UN-iLibrary The United Nations iLibrary is the comprehensive global search, discovery, and viewing source for digital content created by the United Nations. Initially launched in 2015, the UN iLibrary was updated in December 2020 to incorporate new features such as an interface in all six official UN languages and a search feature by Sustainable Development Goals.
US Census Data Covers cover 100,000+ different geographies: states, counties, places, tribal areas, zip codes, and congressional districts. Each covers topics like education, employment, health, and housing just to name a few.
US Health Map The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) is an independent global health research center at the University of Washington.
World Health Organization Dedicated to the well-being of all people and guided by science, the World Health Organization leads and champions global efforts to give everyone, everywhere an equal chance to live a healthy life.
WorldWideScience.org WorldWideScience.org allows the user to search multiple scientific sources from around the world with a single query. Much of the information accessed via WorldWideScience.org is freely available, in support of open science.

Local and State Public Health Resources

Center for Health Statistics Provides statistics on vital events like birth and death, population and demographic information, geographic material and survey data on risk factors and disease prevalence. Also provide information on supply trends for health professions, including nurses, as well as hospital discharge records, and surveys of Texas hospital facilities and charity and community benefits.
City Health Dashboard More than 80 percent of U.S. residents live in urban areas. But until recently, few measures have been available to assess health, the factors that shape health, and the drivers of health equity at the city level. That's where the City Health Dashboard comes in. Our goal is to provide communities and city leaders with an array of regularly updated data specific to neighborhood and/or city boundaries – such as life expectancy, park access, and children in poverty -- to improve the health and well-being of everyone in the community. Created by our team at NYU Grossman School of Medicine's Department of Population Health, and with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the City Health Dashboard launched in 2018. The Dashboard now offers data on over 40 measures of health and drivers of health for over 900 cities across the U.S. – all cities over population 50,000 plus a growing set of smaller places. We're committed to constant improvement, over the years adding new measures and features, including multi-year data, new data visualizations, and easier data access through an API.
Dallas County Health and Human Services The DCHHS provides disease prevention and intervention services, and community health promotions for the Dallas County region. The site provides information about the services, as well as data on reportable diseases and environmental hazards.
Epidemiology & Disease Surveillance Unit of the Texas DSHS Provides data and reports on cancer, injuries, HIV/STD, birth defects, environmental exposures, and epidemiological investigations in Texas.
Life Expectancy in Texas This interactive map reveals the populations and places in Texas where people can expect to live longer—or shorter—lives.
The Status of Women and Girls in Dallas County: A Review of the Academic Literature A comprehensive assessment from 2000 to 2002 of the status of women and girls in Dallas County, including sections on economics, health, families, and adolescent girls.
Texas Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) BRFSS is a federally funded landline and cellular telephone survey that collects data about Texas residents regarding their health-related risk behaviors, chronic health conditions, and use of preventive services.
Texas Cancer Information Provides online cancer information about health professionals, facilities and services, cancer statistics, population, and community resources.
Texas Center for Infectious Disease The Texas Center for Infectious Disease (TCID) is a public health facility of the Texas Department of State Health Services for the treatment of Tuberculosis. TCID's Outpatient Clinic also serves as one of the state's Hansen's Disease clinics. TCID is organized to provide patient care, scientific investigation, and therapeutic and educational services in support of public health needs.
Texas Child Mental Health Care Consortium The Texas Child Mental Health Care Consortium (TCMHCC) was created by the 86th Texas Legislature to leverage the expertise and capacity of the health-related institutions of higher education to address urgent mental health challenges and improve the mental health care system in this state in relation to children and adolescents.
Texas Demographic Center The Texas Demographic Center functions as a focal point for the production, interpretation, and distribution of demographic information for Texas. The Texas Demographic Center produces and disseminates population estimates and projections for Texas, as well as other demographic information. Special emphasis is placed on data that may be useful to policy makers in dealing with issues regarding the demand for State services.
Texas Department of State Health Services Their mission: To improve the health, safety, and well-being of Texans through good stewardship of public resources, and a focus on core public health functions.
Texas Public Health Association The Texas Public Health Association (TPHA) is a non-profit, state-wide association of public health professionals dedicated to public health in Texas. TPHA was organized in 1923 and is an affiliate of the American Public Health Association (APHA).
Texas Public Health Region 2/3 Works to improve the health of Texans by providing essential public health programs and services to people in North Texas.

Public Health Education & Training

Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health Represents the accredited schools of public health in the United States. Provides information about the public health career and training, as well as research, funding opportunities, and projects.
Core Competencies for Public Health Professionals A set of skills, knowledge, and attitudes necessary for the broad practice of public health. Provides details about the development of the list, as well as assistance in implementing them or integrating them into the curriculum for both academic and continuing education. Adopted by the Council on Linkages Between Academia and Public Health Practice in April 2001.
National Board of Public Health Examiners (NBPHE) While many states, including Texas, do not require licensure or certification for public health practitioners, a nationwide certification has been approved by the APHA, ASPH, and other public health organizations. This site provides information about the credentialing, including exam dates, registration, and preparation.
TRAIN - TrainingFinder Real-Time Affiliate Integrated Network (Texas) Requires free registration. TRAIN is a service of the Public Health Foundation, which provides an online list of CE courses in public health for healthcare professionals. Courses are linked to PHF Core Competencies.

School of Public Health Guide

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National and Global Public Health Resources

Local and State Public Health Resources

Public Health Education & Training