Community Health Nursing: Chicago Information

Chicago and Illinois Health Information

Chicago Department of Health statistics

These reports contain community specific information on infant mortality and causes of death; they also include basic demographic data for 1990 and 2000.

Go to http://www.cityofchicago.org/. Hover over "Chicago Government" in the Orange toolbar. Click on "Department Directory."
Scroll down and click on "Public Health."
On the Public Health Department site, scroll to the bottom of the screen and click "Health System Reports and the Chicago Health and Health Systems Project."
Click on "Chicago Health and Health Systems Project."
Select "Community Health Profiles."
Click on the dropdown box at the center of the screen. Select your community area.

You can also look at the hospital profiles of the hospitals in your community area if you click on "Hospital Profiles" rather than "Community Health Profiles" two screens earlier.

Note: These documents can take a long time to load. Also, make sure you print only the pages you need!

Compare Your Neighborhood to the Standards in Healthy People 2010:

This publication gives national goals and status of leading health indicators – provides context in which you can understand certain health problems of your own community, for example AIDS or heart disease.
You can find it in the library reference section at Ref. RA395 .A3 H44
It's also available online at http://www.health.gov/healthypeople) Click on “Publications” and then on Healthy People 2010 volume 1 and volume 2. For updated information click on Latest Updates: Progress Reviews on the home page.

Using Census Data to determine demographic information:

For population data (age, race, ethnicity), income, education, housing, you’ll use U.S. Census reports (taken every 10 years).

1990 results can be found in the Local Community Fact Book (Ref. F548.1 .L6), or here.

The 2000 Census results are available at: http://www.nipc.org

Click on Quicklinks and Census 2000 Updates
Scroll down to Census 2000: Social, Economic, & Housing Data in One File for All 77 Community Areas in the City of Chicago (August 20, 2002).
Right click on either the unzipped or zipped file and then Open.
You’ll see a list of all 77 community areas. To switch from table to another (social, economic, housing, general) click on the small arrows at the bottom left of the page.
To see all the data for each table, click on the horizontal scroll bar at the bottom right of the page.

Or for a shorter summary of general demographs (age, race, etc.), click on: http://www.nipc.org/test/dp234_CA_2000.htm. Click on “Download the File”

Note: The 2000 census results will not look identical to the 1990 reports, because some questions were phrased differently. Pay attention to the description of the data you are using.

Other Sources:

Encyclopedia of Chicago (Ref. F548.3 .E53 2004) You could find some more recent historical information for some communities here. For the online version of this: http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org

Google Maps: (http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&tab=wl) -Type a major intersection of the neighborhood you are researching and hit search. Then, on the new map that loads, click "search nearby" to discover local parks, libraries, schools, grocery stores, whatever.

Environmental Protection Agency: http://www.epa.gov Find the green “Environmental Information and Data” text on the left side of the screen. Search your community by zipcode or address to discover cancer threats to your neighborhood, or if there is a Superfund Site.

Environmental Defense League: http://www.scorecard.org Search by a specific pollutant or environmental hazard (e.g., lead) to see how your community ranks.

Illinois Manufacturer’s Directory (Ref. T 12 .W5) – you can search by zip code to see what industries are located in your community area.

Community Resource Network (Chicago area): http://www.communityresourcenetwork.org Click on "If you are a Directory Subscriber" -- Call Reference Desk for password.(Use advanced search to search by type of organization, zip code, etc.)

United Way. Human Care Services Directory of Metropolitan Chicago (Ref. HV 99 .C4 C532)

City of Chicago home page: http://www.cityofchicago.org/ Click on City Departments on top menu bar of this page to get to Health, Libraries, Police, etc. In particular, take a look at

Police –Use the Police department website to get a sense of the crime problems in your neighborhood. Click on "Community" in the top bar on the screen. Then select "Community Crime Alerts." Once the page has loaded, use the red outlined box on the left side of the screen to find your district and beat. Enter your district into the dropdown box directly below the red box. Finally, explore the page that comes up, including the district crime incidents, alerts, and success stories.

Local branch libraries are good sources of community information. There’s a map of the branch library system in Chicago at the Chicago home page under Departments – Libraries: http://www.chipublib.org/library/locator/