The Build Healthy Places Network announced the release of MeasureUp to help communities measure and communicate impact. Community Commons was proud to be included in this great resource and shares excerpts of their insights with you here.
Former HUD assistant director Raphael Bostic once said, “We cannot advance effective policy if we do not know what works.” That means measuring and quantifying successes and struggles. But for many of us, measuring impact can mean a bewildering array of choices, demands, and questions. Where to begin? How to do it? When to measure? And frankly, why?
MeasureUp is designed to help you cross that chasm. Maybe you’re just starting out with more questions than answers. Or maybe you regularly collect data but making sense of it all is overwhelming. Or maybe you’re a pro but are always curious about what others are doing and finding. This site can help no matter where you are in your impact evaluation journey.
MeasureUp has curated—in one place—the best examples of measurement and action for addressing the social determinants of health, from early planning stages to later evaluation and community engagement. It’s a one-stop shop for resources to help you evaluate and communicate the impact of your programs.
Here’s how MeasureUp can help you:
1. Measure health-related impacts and pick your own metrics using tried-and-true measurement tools.
Example: Metrics for Healthy Communities is a set of resources—from logic models to data sets—to help you measure the impact of neighborhood investments on community health and well-being.
2. Use mapping tools to prioritize neighborhoods’ needs.
Example: The Child Opportunity Index and its corresponding interactive mapping tool help planners understand whether children of different racial and ethnic groups have equitable access to neighborhood resources including healthcare.
3. Find a bounty of evidence for the impact of collaborative work on health and well-being.
Example: An issue brief from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation examines the current evidence linking neighborhoods and health.
4. Make the case to funders and investors.
Example: A video and blog post from the US Green Building Council discusses the importance of developing health metrics for the real estate industry, to encourage investment in communities.
Example: This issue brief from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation examines the current evidence linking neighborhoods and health. It also reviews promising programs and interventions to make neighborhoods healthier places to live, learn, work, and play.
5. Read stories of success at the intersection of health and community development.
Example: Four stories from LISC’s Building Sustainable Communities initiative demonstrate a holistic approach to improving neighborhoods and lives.
6. Identify opportunities for partnerships with organizations in other sectors.
Example: The Quality of Life Plan brings a community together to map out its needs, potential solutions, and possible partners.
Not sure what “measurement” entails in community development and public health? Head to (Almost) Everything You Need to Know About Measurement.
The Build Healthy Places Network is a national organization with a mission to catalyze and support collaboration across the sectors of community development and health, together working to improve low-income communities and the lives of people living in them.
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