AI for Public Meetings and Monitoring Public Health Economy
The Public Health Liberation AI Work Group is testing the feasibility of using AI in public health discourse and data analysis in preparation for an upcoming manuscript. PHL has posited that ongoing monitoring of the Public Health Economy is key for our vision of public health. There are however many practical challenges. Limited resources to attend public hearing is a major limitation. Did you know that you can leverage AI to get a quick overview of a legislative hearing or public meeting? This brief article describes how you can use AI.
Instructions
Download hearing transcript from any public meeting in your community of practice. Typically, the public entity will provide a transcript. If that is not available, you can email that agency for a copy or copy the closed captioning from YouTube, if meeting was uploaded or streamed on that site. You can use the transcripts on the DC Council website for practice. http://dc.granicus.com/.
Next you want to copy text and paste into a Word doc, then save as a pdf.
Upload file to https://www.perplexity.ai/ and use a similar prompt to the one below. You can only upload pdfs. You will need to create a free acount.
Create a question prompt to get an AI-assisted analysis. Here is an example. “From the previous attachment, conduct a thematic analysis. List from most common to least common themes. Assign a score for each theme from 1-100. 100 means that it is a highly common theme. Also describe the theme.”
If you want representative quotes, you can use this prompt, "From the previous attachment, conduct a thematic analysis. List from most common to least common themes. Assign a score for each theme from 1-100. 100 means that it is a highly common theme. Also describe the theme. Use representative quotes from the Agenda2 file to support each theme"
AI Answer:
Example: Committee on Health Public Roundtable - October 5 (Chairperson Christina Henderson) - The purpose of this meeting was to appoint a new director of the DC Department of Health. Testimonies provided information on challenges and opporunities facing the department.
Thematic analysis:
Health equity and improving data systems (Score: 90)- Many testimonies emphasized the importance of health equity and improving data systems to achieve it. They suggested expanding teams' ability to understand the root causes and impacts of policies and programs on outcomes, and increasing the proactive development of policies and practices to improve population health. They also highlighted the need for transparency and accountability to the public.
Transportation policy and health outcomes (Score: 70) - Several testimonies discussed the role of transportation policy in health outcomes. They argued that transportation policy is health policy and that cars and car-centric environments have profound implications for public health. They suggested that D.C. Health should play a more meaningful role in the district's transportation planning and in Vision Zero, and recognize the population health outcome and significant health disparity caused by car emissions and car environments.
Collaboration and partnerships (Score: 60) - Many testimonies emphasized the importance of collaboration and partnerships to achieve health equity. They suggested that D.C. Health should work side by side with providers, community partners, institutional partners, hospitals, partner agencies, and universities to address the complex drivers of health inequity that D.C. Health cannot address alone. They also highlighted the need for D.C. Health to be the leader and convener of those efforts.
Quality improvement and excellence (Score: 50) - Some testimonies discussed the need for D.C. Health to expand its quality improvement capacity and practice to ensure that it delivers quality services. They suggested that D.C. Health should embrace transparency and accountability and invest in its communication and data system to allow the state of health in the district to prioritize the goals and progress in achieving them. They also highlighted the need to build a culture of innovation and excellence that will carry D.C. Health into the next chapter and turn that innovation to the task of advancing health equity.
Specific health issues (Score: 40) - Some testimonies discussed specific health issues such as sickle cell disease, chronic disease, and respiratory viruses. They suggested that D.C. Health should provide more support to train physicians in effective sickle cell care, focus on high-risk groups in terms of where D.C. Health puts its effort, and educate the community and the public around these various respiratory issues.
