Communicating data

Developing an “Equity Spotlight” (i.e., a communication tool highlighting and framing the inequity such as a factsheet, presentation, website, etc.) can be a useful way to share information with a focus on racial equity. This section provides six steps to help plan and develop an Equity Spotlight.

Intro summary 

Once racial inequities have been identified, the findings and potential strategies should be communicated to your partners. In the Road Map, we refer to communication tools highlighting and framing the inequity as Equity Spotlights. These can come in many forms, such as a factsheet, presentation, website, infographic, or peer-reviewed article.  

When sharing data, it is important to be aware of how your data are presented and how it might influence people’s understanding of the issue. Instead of letting data “speak for itself,” it is necessary to recognize that neither data nor their presentation are neutral or objective. If the presentation of data is not thoughtfully designed to center racial equity, its misinterpretation is more likely to perpetuate stereotypes and reinforce inequitable power structures.¹ Creating an Equity Spotlight can be an important way to share information and deepen the audience’s understanding of racial equity. 

Tips to communicate equity data

An important aspect of centering equity in the presentation of data is respectfully reflecting the lived experiences of the people the data represent. The Urban Institute’s Do No Harm Guide for Applying Equity Awareness in Data Visualization suggests that demonstrating empathy in data representations helps to build trust with communities and understanding among readers. The guide outlines the following 6 themes for effectively communicating data with equity:   

1. Put people first: Remember and communicate that data reflect the lives and experiences of real people. Make it clear to readers who is represented in the data and help readers better understand and recognize the people behind the numbers.  
2. Use personal connections to help readers and users better connect with the material: Pairing data with individual or group level experiences, like stories, illustrations, or quotes, can help readers connect with the data on a more personal level.  
3. Use a mix of quantitative and qualitative approaches to tell a story: While data are often presented with a focus on numbers, using a mix of quantitative and qualitative methods can help contextualize the “why” and “how” behind the data.   
4. Create a platform for engagement: Allowing the audience to engage with the data, either through an interactive visualization or a platform for providing feedback, can help readers find themselves in the data or discover stories that are most interesting to them.  
5. Consider how your framing of an issue can create a biased emotional response: It is important to critically examine the way the data are framed and consider how different presentations could bias the audience’s perception of the issue and change the key message.
6. Recognize the needs of your audience: Being responsive to the needs of the audience, like avoiding the use of overly technical language, is important to make the data accessible to broader audiences, including the communities that the data represent.  

It’s important to consider these themes when developing your Equity Spotlight. 

Step 1: Determine the goal of the Equity Spotlight

One goal of the Equity Spotlight is to share your health inequity and the program’s commitment to address it. It should be clear why these data are being highlighted. Below are some questions to ask yourself before creating your Equity Spotlight.

• Is the goal to increase people’s awareness of the inequity? This is likely only appropriate if you are engaging with people outside the community being affected. The community experiences the inequity every day.
• Is the intention to contextualize an issue and frame it from a systems perspective that addresses root causes?  
• Is the goal to highlight opportunities for intervention?  
• Are the data intended to demonstrate how current programs do not adequately support certain communities?  

Your goal may be to address all the above. It is important to be clear on the goal of the Equity Spotlight in order to narrow the scope of the communication and determine key messages.  

Step 2: Determine the audience

The next step is determining who will access and use the product. The identities and lived experiences of the audience will influence the best way to communicate with them. It is important to consider and explicitly address factors such as race, ethnicity, culture, religion, gender identity expression, sexual orientation, age, ability, preferred language, literacy level and lived experience with the issue. Figure 7.1 identifies several key partners and example members you may want to consider when determining the audience for the Equity Spotlight. 

Figure 7.1: Examples of audiences

Key Partners	Example Members
Staff of the program whose data were analyzed	Dentist at the community health center, community health worker (CHW) working directly with clients
Vendor	Local implementing agencies, contracted agencies, community-based agencies
Funder	Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA), private foundations
Community residents	Families, youth, children and youth with special health needs, people with lived experience
Participant receiving services from the program	Young parents, students with disabilities
Legislature/policy makers	State legislators and their staff, municipal government partners

Step 3: Identify 2-3 key takeaway messages for the audience

What exactly should the audience know after reading the Equity Spotlight? What is the story being told? Generally, Equity Spotlights address the following three questions:  

1. What is the inequity? Describe the inequity. Why is it important?  What is the magnitude of the inequity? What data point(s) are being used to demonstrate it?  
2. Why does this inequity exist? Referring back to your efforts to contextualize the data, explain why this inequity occurs. When centering racial equity, it is important to use a structural analysis to understand and frame the inequity (rather than describing individual-level risk factors or behaviors.)  
3. What can be done about it? Inequities are, by definition, preventable. Communicating what could and needs to change (and, as appropriate, the potential role of the audience) can serve as a call to action.  

If there are many narratives and data points to share, reflect on the goal of the Equity Spotlight and determine what information is essential. A critical part of this process is engaging with key partners and those most impacted by the inequity to refine and prioritize the key takeaway messages. 

Now that you have determined your takeaway messages, ask yourself: 

• Do these messages tell a story that is compelling and actionable? 
• Do these messages support the goal of the Equity Spotlight? 
• Are the messages appropriate for the audience? 
• Do these messages inadvertently blame the individual or population experiencing the inequity? Can the message be used to reinforce harmful stereotypes about the population experiencing the inequities?  
• Do these messages emphasize that the inequity is preventable?   

Step 4: Design your Equity Spotlight

After the key messages have been determined, consider the rest of the content of the Equity Spotlight. Depending on the audience, some background information will be needed. This includes information about the health issue/topic area, racial equity, structural racism, and the terminology used in the Equity Spotlight. Some key components to include in the Equity Spotlight are:

• Key takeaway messages
• Definitions – especially those defining equity, technical terms and any acronyms
• Data highlighting the inequity – provide a hook or compelling statistic
• Clear, understandable graphics
• Information related to the program important for the audience to know (e.g., population served, eligibility criteria, etc.)
• Framing that recognizes the structural and systemic drivers of inequities
• Next steps, solutions and/or opportunities for intervention

Once you have the content for your Equity Spotlight, it’s important to consider how this information will be formatted. An Equity Spotlight can come in many different formats, with different lengths, types of visuals, and delivery methods. Consider the advantages and trade-offs of different formats for the audience and the goal of the Equity Spotlight. Some common formats to consider are infographics, one page fact sheets, longer reports, webpages, peer-reviewed manuscripts, oral presentations, and facilitated workshops.   

Also, consider the best way to present the information. How much and what part of the messaging should be text or visual (e.g., charts, diagrams, frameworks)? What information best supports the primary message? Additional information can be helpful to frame the message, but it can also be distracting, so use sparingly.   

Step 5: Put the equity spotlight together

Once you have all the key components and know the best format to reach your audience, you can design your product. Remember, visuals can be more powerful than words. Below are some additional tips to consider when creating your Equity Spotlight.  

Accessibility resources:

• Consider accessibility for people with disabilities.   
• Use plain language. There are a variety of tools and checklists that can assist from before you start writing to formatting and visual clarity as well as testing and revising the product.  
• Pay attention to the literacy level of your document. It is recommended to create materials at no higher than an 8th-grade reading level.  
• Does your product need to be translated, and into which languages?  

Data visualization resources:

• Epi Info™, developed by CDC, is public domain software for public health that allows data collection, analysis and visualization, including mapping. 
• Free tools to make engaging presentations, infographics and other visual content include Visme and Piktochart. 
• The Depict Data Studio website has a useful “chart chooser” to help create appropriate graphics.  

Step 6: Pilot the equity spotlight

Once you have created the Equity Spotlight, it is now time to pilot it with internal and external partners. Share the Equity Spotlight with other internal program staff for initial feedback on messaging and images. Gather staff input and incorporate the feedback. Then pilot the Equity Spotlight with key members of the intended audience to gather feedback on the messaging and images. Once again, update the Equity Spotlight to incorporate their feedback.

Questions to consider when piloting your Equity Spotlight include: 

• Are all the terms clear and easy to understand?   
• What is the takeaway message?  
• What is being said about the population affected by the inequity? 
• Is there anything missing? Is there more you would like to know? 

Once you feel confident the Equity Spotlight will be effective and communicate your inequity clearly, share it with the intended audience. Visit Data to Action for strategies on how to move from data to action. 

Reflection

The Equity Spotlight is an important tool to share information with key partners, deepen understanding of racial equity, and build buy-in for moving from data to action. Make sure the story being told reflects your earlier efforts to frame the data in the context of broader historical and structural factors and prioritize upstream and multi-system (groundwater) strategies to address the problem. This is an opportunity to make a clear and compelling call to action to address the impact of structural racism on the identified inequity.  

¹ Schwabish and Feng. Urban Institute. Do No Harm Guide: Applying Equity Awareness in Data Visualization. Available at: do-no-harm-guide.pdf (urban.org).