What’s being done
Researchers at the University of Houston at Sugar Land are working to understand the facets of health to help learn how environmental factors contribute to overall health.
The Population Health Collaborative, an education and research hub, is a UH Population Health initiative that launched in November to determine the quality of life in Fort Bend County, which entities can use in their decision-making.
Jeronimo Cortina, Population Health Collaborative executive director, said the collaborative’s team will calculate the area’s Urban Health Index, a metric which reports quality-of-life indicators, including:
- Health
- Infrastructure
- Economic development
- Education
- Other social factors
Launched in January 2022, the UH Population Health initiative is the first of its kind in the nation led by Chief Population Health Officer Bettina Beech, according to its website.
Fort Bend County was chosen for the index from other Houston-area counties because of its diversity in both residents and the geographic area as a whole, Cortina said.
“When you look at the county, it’s ... a fertile laboratory [of what] the county is going to look like in the next 30 years," he said. “We have the opportunity to establish a new way of doing policymaking including the community and involving the university.”
Get involved
Working with the community is essential to determining the index, Cortina said. While there are data points such as the census and environmental factors, the team will need to engage with the community to determine factors that are not measured regularly, such as environmental and behavioral factors.
These factors will be collected through surveys and open calls for community discussions, where the community will be invited to discuss topics that include civic engagement as well as transportation and mobility issues. The dates are not yet set for the community discussions, but they should be released soon, Cortina said.
Stay tuned
Cortina said the team is partnering with the Fort Bend Chamber of Commerce to host a lunch on April 4, where the UH Population Health team will share preliminary findings and an update on the project.
The finalized report, which is set to be released in May, will allow municipalities and private businesses to consider factors while making important community decisions, he said.
