Tool Helps Communities Focus Resources to Address Heat-Related Health Impacts and Inequities
Communities across the country are experiencing strained resources and health care infrastructure on the heels of the hottest month on record. Mathematica has launched a new data dashboard that highlights how heat waves have impacted health care use and spending and magnified inequity across the country, focusing on Medicaid beneficiaries. ClimaWATCH (Climate and Weather Analytics, Trends, and Community Health) synthesizes and visualizes multiple data sources to make it easy for government officials, public health agencies, health care providers, and others to explore relationships between heat-related exposure, vulnerability, and illness at the county, state, and national levels over time.
“Each year, billions of dollars are spent dealing with the impacts of heat waves across the country,” said Aparna Keshaviah, who led the design and development of ClimaWATCH as principal researcher at Mathematica. “ClimaWATCH can help communities tailor adaptation strategies to put resources in the right places at the right time to protect those most at risk for severe or fatal health issues.”
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