The Housing and Health Data Dashboard, a New HUD USER Resource for Researching Social Determinants of Health

The Housing and Health Data Dashboard, a New HUD USER Resource for Researching Social Determinants of Health

Katina Norwood (Social Science Analyst) and Carol Star (Program Demonstration Division Director)

The Health and Housing Data Dashboard provides researchers with a central point of access to relevant HUD-owned and HUD-linked data.

Recently, HUD launched the Housing and Health Data Dashboard, a new and exciting resource that serves as a hub for users wishing to access HUD-owned or HUD-linked data to support health and housing research.

HUD manages an extensive inventory of data on HUD-assisted households. Some of these data have been linked to national surveys and other data to better understand the health and well-being of HUD-assisted residents. Although much of this information is publicly available, it has not been summarized or organized in a single location. In response to requests from federal partners to make these resources better known and available to housing and health researchers, the Office of Policy Development and Research (PD&R) consolidated its various housing- and health-related datasets and sources into a single, easily accessible database.

Structured as an interactive and user-friendly dashboard, the Housing and Health Data Dashboard organizes HUD-owned and -linked data into five broad categories:

• HUD Administrative Data: HUD's administrative data on HUD-assisted households (for example, the Inventory Management System/Public and Indian Housing Information Center and the Tenant Rental Assistance Certification System) along with HUD-collected data, including property- and tenant-level data on the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program.

• Housing Survey Data: Data from HUD's major national surveys as well as other standing data collections (such as from the American Housing Survey and American Community Survey).

• Data Linkages With Census: Data linkages that leverage the U.S. Census Bureau Data Linkage Infrastructure (for example, the Household Pulse Survey and LIHTC data at the census tract level).

• Data Linkages With Federal Agencies: Data linkages with various federal agencies (such as the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the National Center for Health Statistics).

• PD&R Evaluation Study Data: Select datasets from PD&R's demonstrations and evaluations (such as Moving to Opportunity and the Family Options Study).

Each category includes a description of the data source, data collection methods and frequency, data uses, and data file type for each respective dataset or system. The Dashboard links to relevant webpages with more information about each data project and location. In addition, the Dashboard highlights select publications illustrating how Dashboard data have been used for housing and health research. The Dashboard also provides contact information for each data source so users can direct questions appropriately.

Although most HUD-owned and HUD-linked data are publicly available, some are accessible only to individuals who have Special Sworn Status or have entered into a HUD Data License Agreement. The Dashboard uses color-coded icons to identify data that are publicly available or restricted, and it includes guidance on how to request access to restricted data.

HUD will update the Housing and Health Data Dashboard quarterly to ensure its accuracy and share information on the status of forthcoming linkages. Users with questions or ideas for improving the Dashboard should contact Katina Norwood at Katina.E.Norwood@hud.gov. Researchers are also encouraged to share projects and publications that use these data to incorporate into future Dashboard updates.

The authors gratefully acknowledge the efforts of the Health Housing Group, an informal group composed of researchers from the National Institutes of Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and HUD, for its role in conceptualizing this resource as well as PD&R and U.S. Census Bureau staff, whose many contributions made the Dashboard possible and will continue to make it a reliable and relevant public resource.

References:

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research. n.d. “Housing and Health Data Dashboard.” Accessed 25 March 2024. (See: https://www.huduser.gov/portal/hhdr.html)

U.S. Census Bureau. n.d. “Restricted-Use Data Application Process.” Accessed 25 March 2024. (See: https://www.census.gov/topics/research/guidance/restricted-use-microdata/standard-application-process.html)

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research. n.d. “Data License for Access to Restricted Data.” Accessed 25 March 2024. (See: https://www.huduser.gov/portal/research/pdr_data-license.html)