Programs that collect and use data to make decisions can share it in ways that lead to a deeper understanding of an issue or problem. Share health data with program leaders, including the governing body or Tribal Council, Policy Council, and administrators, staff, families, and community partners. Each stakeholder has a unique perspective that can help programs improve their systems and services. Remember to remove details that might identify someone, such as their name and date of birth. Always maintain confidentiality when sharing health data.

For example, if a program is trying to improve safety practices, sharing data can help. The next great idea for creating an injury prevention plan could come from any of these groups:

• The governing body, who can budget to keep maintaining and improving facilities, materials, and equipment
• Policy Council, who can help program leaders give safety information to program families
• Staff and administrators, who can change policies and procedures
• HMHSAC, who can help find injury patterns and trends and suggest ways to address them
• Families, who can use safety rules at home

Tips and Strategies for Training Staff

• Make sure staff who enter health data in your recordkeeping and reporting system are trained well.
• Offer professional development to help staff understand that programs need high-quality data to make good decisions, and to show them ways to use health data.
• Find user groups for your management information system (MIS). If your program uses an electronic MIS, ask the company if it offers user groups and how to join one. Ask for training on the kinds of custom reports you need so it can help you create them.
• Train staff on how to use safety checklists to recognize hazards, and checklists of steps to follow if they find problems.
• Give training on hazard mapping. Offer professional development to help staff learn how to combine and analyze injury data and to use the results to make environments safer.   

Resources for Staff Professional Development

• Classroom safety checklist
• Playground safety checklist
• Hazard Mapping for Early Care and Education Programs

Tips and Strategies for Collaborating with Families

• Get qualitative feedback from families. Ask families about the services they have had. Their feedback can help you decide what is working well and what to improve.
• Include family members on your program’s HMHSAC. Recruit people who can give insights on strengths and gaps in services in your community.

Resources for Collaborating with Families

• Measuring What Matters: Using Data to Support Family Progress
• Family Well-being: Strategies to Support Family Safety, Health, and Financial Stability
• Using Health Literacy to Improve My Family’s Health
• Health Tips for Families Series
• The Well Visit Planner for Families