Charging Forward into Health

This was no easy task. Past attempts to form this plan consumed years, mired in systems fixated on metrics, neglecting significant storytelling. All of SAMHD’s metrics were being tracked in spreadsheets. 

Amanda Manzello, Performance Improvement Manager, San Antonio, stated, “...it’s very aged…no narrative, no pictures, no nothing.”

Desperate for change, SAMHD sought a different approach, demanding more attention to “why it matters.” Enter mySidewalk.

Golareh Agha, Chief of Informatics, San Antonio, underscored the chaos:

The Solution

In the battle for a healthier San Antonio, SAMHD identified six pivotal health priority areas: access to care, data and technology infrastructure, food insecurity and nutrition, health equity and social justice, mental health and community resilience, and violence prevention. The challenge was monumental—manually sifting through colossal datasets and crafting lengthy reports simply wasn't viable.

The key to the team's success? mySidewalk's data library. Now armored with an easily-searchable, expansive data library, SAMHD swiftly pinpointed crucial metrics for each focus area, illuminating disparities.

“For us, it streamlined the methodology. It’s a harmonized tool,” Agha continued. “We’re not using 17 different methodologies to map something or use it in a table. This platform for us - a data library and a built-in tool for manipulating and deriving insights from that tool has allowed us to become a super user.”

For example, SAMHD was able to showcase a powerful example of the racial inequities persisting in unemployment and education. For them, this underscored the importance of being able to break data down by race to identify, and eventually dismantle, inequities.

But it wasn't just data they gained; it was a partnership with mySidewalk —an ensemble of data storytellers and subject matter experts collaborating to achieve the shared vision of a healthy community. 

The constant evolution of this tool doesn't just document change; it became San Antonio’s North Star, pointing the way to a healthier, fairer future—a journey that sparked a sense of purpose within the team.