The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has significantly enhanced its Mapping Broadband Health in America platform to analyze the intersection of broadband access and critical health outcomes, with a newly emphasized focus on maternal and infant health.
Originally designed to explore broadband’s impact on chronic diseases, the platform now addresses broader public health issues like opioid abuse, cancer, and maternal health. This update empowers communities with actionable insights to improve outcomes by addressing disparities in connectivity and healthcare access.
The updated platform leverages the Connect2Health Task Force’s County Categorization Framework to pinpoint areas with limited broadband access and high health needs, offering a deeper understanding of health challenges. New features include:
Maternal and Infant Health Data: Risk factors such as diabetes, hypertension, and infant mortality.
Broadband Access Insights: Overlays health metrics with broadband availability and adoption data.
Social Determinants of Health: Data on housing, transportation, food insecurity, and poverty.
Expanded Health Data: Including breast cancer outcomes, opioid use disorder, and chronic disease risk factors.
Enhanced Filtering: Improved tools for isolating and analyzing specific data sets.
By providing this expanded dataset, the FCC aims to drive targeted interventions that bridge the gap between connectivity and health equity.
Click here to read the original news story.