Use of innovative technologies in the evaluation of Nashville's REACH 2010 community action plan: reducing disparities in cardiovascular disease and diabetes in the African American community

Ethnic minorities in the United States suffer disproportionately from chronic diseases such as cancer, heart disease, AIDS, and diabetes. A nationally-funded initiative known as Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) has designated 26 communities to implement demonstration projects to reduce health disparities in targeted minority populations. This article presents two methods of integrating innovative technologies into the program's evaluation plan: (1) a Web-based data entry system for recording project activity and (2) geographic information systems (GISs) for developing visual maps of project targets. These technologies can assist other programs in managing and measuring community-based public health initiatives.