Public Health in the Rockies 2026

Public health initiatives depend upon accurate, actionable and community-driven data, collected through systematic and collaborative approaches. Surveys are one of the most efficient mechanism to gather insights that serve community members, program partners, and institutional stakeholders as they seek to frame data with community voice.

This interactive session is tailored for public health practitioners who want to build skills in survey design, especially those seeking to collect and translate data into meaningful public health action. Grounded in the conference theme, Stronger Together, this workshop is designed to elevate community perspectives and priorities. We introduce foundational survey design concepts and practical tools, and focus on evidence-based strategies to engage unique and hard-to-reach populations and best capture their authentic perspectives.

The workshop uses a unique practice-oriented approach. A didactic overview of survey design is followed by a hands-on seminar where participants identify a research question and define a population of interest. Through a series of modules using real-world examples and applied group and individual exercises, participants will build their own survey and explore free, commonly used resources and online survey tools. Workshop modules address common pitfalls, types of bias, participant privacy concerns, and resource management. Example Modules include:

* What are you asking? Together we will examine the intent of the survey including engaging stakeholders, defining metrics, avoiding ‘nice-to-know’ topics (Have you ever experienced the ‘How did my five-item survey become 20 minutes?’ conundrum), and prioritizing demographic information.
* Who are you talking to? Populations [SC1] of Focus, Modes of Contact and Modes of Completion: Populations of focus often determine contact mode, protocol and other considerations such as available resources, timeline for data collection, and use and type of incentives. These concepts are inter-dependent and each has unique challenges and solutions. We also discuss engagement strategies to increase response rates in an environment where people are inundated with “junk” communications.
* What do you mean? How questions and response options are worded is critical to ensuring you are collecting what you intend. We will discuss the pros and cons of using validated questions, assessing neutrality and reading comprehension using AI tools, recognizing and avoiding ‘double-barreled’ questions, when to use open-ended versus close-ended questions, and randomization of choice sets. We also illustrate the importance of survey validation among a sample of the intended populations, leveling surveys for reading comprehension, and the importance of trusted translations, as well as methods to encourage honest responses and ways to detect fraudulent responses.
* You are asking THIS first? Visual impact and ordering of questions is a rarely discussed but crucial art form in survey design. We review survey ‘blocks’ and the importance of question ordering and instructions, especially for topics that are complex, sensitive or may bias responses to subsequent questions. We also discuss using internal logic in various survey modes.

The Denver Department of Public Health & Environment (DDPHE) showcases how an equity-centered, technology‑enabled Community Health Assessment (CHA) can elevate community voice, strengthen data integration, and produce actionable insights to guide health improvement planning. Following the MAPP 2.0 framework, DDPHE redesigned its CHA to prioritize community empowerment, strengthen analysis, and enhance accessibility while emphasizing how social determinants of health (SDOH) shape conditions.


First, DDPHE recruited Denver partner organizations and residents who supported the CHA on several unique steering and advisory committees. These committees informed research design, co-developed focus group protocols, and interpreted data analyses. Next, DDPHE leveraged ArcGIS Online tools in two ways. Survey123 supported a citywide survey with more than 2,200 responses with geolocation data, enabling qualitative input to be linked to neighborhood-level SDOH indicators. Second, publishing the CHA as a StoryMap transformed it into an interactive narrative, improving usability and appeal.

DDPHE also piloted an innovative qualitative analysis by comparing manual coding of 10 focus groups with an AI tool using a large language model. Manual coding yielded rich, descriptive data for the CHA. Some differences were revealed when compared to the AI-generated output. However, results confirmed AI’s strong potential, particularly since the tool required minimal fine-tuning and reduced staff time. Thus, a "human-in-the-loop" approach emerged as a promising solution for resource-constrained departments.

Lastly, a structured data triangulation session integrated survey results, focus group themes, and more than 100 quantitative indicators. Partners and residents assessed disparities, identified opportunities for health improvement, and generated ten health priority areas.

Overall, DDPHE’s approach shows how aligning MAPP 2.0 with geospatial and AI tools can create a more equitable, engaging, and actionable CHA, and offers a replicable model for other public health jurisdictions.

An hour session is needed to ensure attendees leave with adaptable strategies they can apply in their own departments.

Analysis Focus: This study analyzes patterns of firearm access among American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) youth in Colorado, with a specific focus on rural populations. The primary objective is to estimate the prevalence of firearm access among rural AI/AN youth and to assess whether access differs by geographic context.

Methods: Cross-sectional data from the 2025 Healthy Kids Colorado Survey (HKC) were analyzed among respondents identifying as AI/AN. The primary variable of interest is firearm access, defined as the presence of a firearm in the home. Rurality, based on school location, is examined as the primary explanatory variable. Weighted descriptive statistics were used to estimate the prevalence of firearm access among AI/AN youth overall and stratified by rural status. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to estimate the association between rurality and firearm access. Models adjusted for demographic characteristics and other relevant covariates. Survey weights were applied to account for sampling design and population representation.

Results (Preliminary / Anticipated): Firearm access is expected to be more prevalent among rural AI/AN youth compared to their non-rural counterparts. Adjusted models are anticipated to show higher odds of firearm access among rural youth relative to those in urban and suburban settings.

Implications: Findings identify rural AI/AN youth as a population with elevated levels of firearm access. These results support the need for geographically targeted and culturally appropriate approaches to firearm access and safety in rural AI/AN communities.

Background/Purpose

Health systems continue to face challenges related to fragmented referrals, disconnected services, and limited opportunities for family partnership in systems planning. Boulder County Public Health leveraged its community alignment infrastructure through Family Connects and created the Family Voice Ambassador (FVA) model to strengthen collaboration across public health, healthcare, early childhood, and community-based systems to better understand community strengths and barriers.

Methods

Through Family Voice Ambassador engagement, cafecitos hosted by Family Voice Ambassadors, collaborative planning discussions, outreach activities, and cross-sector partnership meetings, caregivers with lived experience shared feedback on developmental referrals, behavioral health navigation, access to preventive care, food and childcare resources, and overall system coordination. We incorporated this feedback into our discussions on the Whole Person Care framework, coordinated referral pathways, outreach strategies, and systems improvement efforts.

Results

Family Voice Ambassadors helped identify recurring barriers families experience when navigating multiple systems, including confusion surrounding developmental referrals, limited awareness of available resources, language-access barriers, and fragmented communication across services. The community alignment structure strengthened collaboration among partners and guided improvements in outreach, culturally responsive engagement strategies, and discussions around more coordinated approaches to supporting families. Examples include:

* Whole Person Care Framework
* Developmental referral process improvement
* Improved navigation of resources
* Reduction in appointment cancellations
* Informs public policy project to improve access to food

Why Requesting a 1-Hour Session:

The additional 30 minutes will allow presenters to facilitate audience discussion and interactive reflection related to integrating family voice into public health and systems collaboration.

Attendees can participate in a guided discussion activities using the Spectrum of Community Engagement to Ownership framework to explore how organizations can move beyond traditional outreach and incorporate community voice into systems improvement, planning, and partnership strategies. Participants will have opportunities to identify strengths, barriers, and actionable next steps relevant to their own communities and organizations.

This project describes the development of a standardized and semi-automated Environmental Health (EH) performance dashboard (Power BI) designed to improve reporting consistency, support program evaluation, maintain accountability and strengthen data-informed decision-making across EH programs. The dashboard supports public health professionals by reducing manual reporting burden, improving operational transparency, and enabling more consistent workload assessment across teams. The project also aligns with the conference theme, “Stronger Together,” by fostering cross-team collaboration and a shared framework for standardized reporting, data visualization, and better utilization of Environmental Health data across programs.

Background/Purpose:
At El Paso County Public Health, the built-in reporting features in HealthSpace, an EH data management system, lacked standardized metrics. Thus, inspection data across Retail Food, Child Care, Water Recreation, Waste Tire, and Body Art programs remained inconsistently reported. This resulted in limited visibility into workload distribution, staff activity, and operational equity across programs.

Methods:
An internal EH performance dashboard was developed using a SharePoint–Power BI pipeline to standardize key metrics and automate reporting workflows. HealthSpace data exports were integrated into a structured data model with consistent metric definitions applied across programs. Supporting tools, including a metric dictionary and dashboard guide, were developed to enhance usability and interpretation. Key metrics included standardized indicators related to inspection activity, workload distribution, operational performance, and geographic patterns across programs.

Results:
Implementation of the dashboard improved consistency and transparency in performance reporting, enabling managers to better assess workload distribution. The dashboard was embedded within SharePoint, improving centralized visibility for all EH staff while reducing reliance on manual reporting and review processes.

Implications:
This project demonstrates how EH programs can use standardized metrics, automated reporting workflows, and dashboard visualization techniques to improve performance management. Attendees will gain practical strategies for structuring EH data into usable dashboards that support operational efficiency and data-driven decision-making.

Background:

Several different factors influence public health policy, only one of which is scientific evidence. The current situation regarding the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) is a fascinating saga fueled by things like mistruths, misinformation, and disinformation while receiving support from cultural cognition, where individuals accept facts and perceived risks and benefits in relation to their personal beliefs and values. With this in mind, the sitting ACIP members were dismissed by the new HHS Secretary in 2025 and replaced by members who all shared ideological commonalities regarding vaccines and COVID with the secretary. Since then, the Committee has undone many longstanding evidence-based recommendations made by prior Committee members.

Methods:

The Colorado General Assembly passed pre-emptive policies to provide a basis for Colorado to respond to changes anticipated under the new HHS secretary. With the leadership and policy recommendations released by the American Academy of Pediatrics and other national professional organizations, Colorado responded with public health orders, standing orders, and emergency rule-making hearings to assure vaccine access. Legislation passed in the 2026 session further strengthened state immunization policy. Most recently, all actions by the HHS secretary in relation to the ACIP changes have been stayed, the HHS Secretary has appealed and announced other changes to ACIP recommendations. The Board of Health has passed supportive rules for school entry vaccines.

Results:

All Colorado children have access to the vaccine schedule that was enacted in February 2025, before the actions of the current HHS Secretary. All Other Public Health Fields actions are being considered to protect coverage for Medicaid-covered children.

Implications:

Colorado health and public health providers must collaborate on communication strategies to continue support and uptake of evidence-based vaccine recommendations for both children and adults, to support the public health of our residents.