INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The nonprofit Indy Health District is taking action to improve heath outcomes for underserved communities on the near north side of Indianapolis.

Indiana University Indianapolis has been named the lead evaluator of the program.

Valerie Yeager, professor of health policy and management at IU Indianapolis’ Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health, said, “We are working closely with IU Health and the Indy Health District to identify metrics that we can track over time.”

Metrics include data on people’s quality of life, social determinants of health, and an increase in life expectancy for the community.

Jamal Smith, executive director of Indy Health District, said, “This partnership with IU Indianapolis is critical to our strategy. Data will be key to not only understanding and quantifying the disparities in health outcomes within the Indy Health District, but also measuring progress and ultimately creating a healthier community.”

According to Indy Health District, data from the latest U.S. census said people who live within the district’s footprint die 20 years sooner than people in surrounding neighborhoods.

Yeager said, “We’re building interactive maps that you’ll be able to look at some characteristics within the community in relation to some of the outcome variables that we’ll be able to track over time.”

The evaluation effort is conducted in partnership with IU Indianapolis’ The Polis Center and the nonprofit Health by Design. Some of the variables that IU Indianapolis will evaluate are crash hot spots for pedestrians and bicyclists; green spaces; and access to prenatal and long-term health care.

“There are hundreds of things that we could be tracking, but we wanted to have a manageable list of things that could directly be impacted by the work that the Indy Health district is going to be undertaking,” Yeager said.

Data will be updated every year, and community surveys will be conducted every other year.

“It’s crucial to be evaluating the work along the way so that you can feed back what information you’re learning so you can continue making improvements,” Yeager said.

The first official community gathering event for the Indy Health District will be held Nov. 20, where Yeager and other organizations hope to get public feedback.