Youth Leading the Way in Lead Awareness in New Britain, CT

New Britain, CT was one of ten cross-sectoral city teams selected to participate in the City Health Dashboard’s 2024 Data Challenge, an initiative designed to help cities build on and improve how they incorporate health and equity data into their local program planning, stakeholder development, and community engagement efforts. Each city team was already a member of the Reinvestment Fund’s Invest Health network, with which we partnered to launch a Call for Applications to cities across the country interested in improving their data capacity. As a Data Challenge participant, New Britain gained access to 1:1 technical assistance, workshops focused on data storytelling and using data for community engagement, and toolkits to improve project management and data decision-making.

The team working on New Britain’s Data Challenge was led by the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) and focused on the city’s East Side , a community that has struggled historically with poorer health and socioeconomic outcomes compared to the rest of the city. The team had two goals for the two-year project. The first was to identify data on lead risk to help explain the danger of lead poisoning and raise awareness of the higher presence of lead in New Britain’s East Side neighborhoods, targeting diverse audiences such as the New Britain Town Council, the New Britain Health Department, and East Side community members. The second goal was to use this data to reach elementary, middle, and high school students with a lead safety campaign, leveraging support from a community health work training course for local high school students affiliated with Central Connecticut State University (the Community Health Worker Intern Academy, or CHWIA).

Using City Health Dashboard data on Housing with Potential Lead Risk and the Lead Exposure Risk Index, the team was able to pinpoint neighborhoods at risk for elevated lead levels. They then paired those data with locally collected electronic health record data on positive blood tests for lead to create graphics showing that areas with higher risk of elevated lead in housing also tended to have a greater number of positive lead tests. These graphics were included in an informational flyer which was distributed across the East Side to promote participation in a community-wide survey that aimed to assess lead awareness and the warning signs of possible lead poisoning.

The New Britain team presented Dashboard maps and survey results from more than 100 community members at Town Hall and Board of Health meetings. The results highlighted the urgency of lead risk to city officials and underscored that many residents remained unaware of the causes of higher lead risk, of the symptoms of lead poisoning, and that they lived in high-risk areas. City officials were engaged and understood the associated challenges. The team also shared the Dashboard maps and survey results with youth in an effort to raise their awareness but found little engagement or response when they presented them to local high schoolers.

To better engage elementary-aged children, adolescents, and young adults, the New Britain team, with support from the City Health Dashboard team, adapted their messaging to use more age-appropriate language and visuals. They also worked with teens enrolled in the CHWIA program to integrate Dashboard lead risk maps into PhotoVoice– a type of community-led, interactive research project featuring photos taken by project participants – on housing conditions on the East Side. Through this effort, the team was better able to engage local adolescents as well as the wider community and connect the data to issues of interest to New Britain residents, like housing and safety. The Dashboard and the Data Challenge also helped the CHWIA teens gain public speaking and advocacy skills, and they ultimately reached over 500 people through their PhotoVoice project.

The New Britain team’s experience highlights the importance of understanding one’s audience and knowing when to reframe and tailor messaging based on an audience’s specific needs. Tools like the Dashboard, which can be easily presented and adapted for different audiences, are essential for successfully connecting with diverse residents of all ages, communicating with city leadership to motivate action, and engaging and supporting community interest on important health topics.