Currently submitted to: JMIR Formative Research
Date Submitted: May 29, 2026
Open Peer Review Period: May 31, 2026 - Jul 26, 2026
(currently open for review)
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
Co-Creating Climate-Health Dashboards with Stakeholders: Toward Equitable, Actionable, and Community-Centered Solution
ABSTRACT
Background:
Climate-related disasters increasingly affect community health, healthcare access, and disaster preparedness, particularly in disaster-prone Gulf Coast communities. Although climate dashboards have expanded access to environmental data, many function primarily as static repositories with limited integration of health data or operational decision-support capabilities.
Objective:
This study aimed to identify stakeholder-informed design priorities and implementation considerations for a climate and health dashboard to support disaster preparedness, response, recovery, and community decision-making.
Methods:
We conducted qualitative semi-structured interviews with seven multisector stakeholders representing academic research, community-based organizations, public health, emergency preparedness, and disaster recovery settings in Houston, Texas. Interviews explored current use of climate and health data, desired dashboard features, usability considerations, data integration needs, and sustainability priorities. Transcripts were analyzed using the Rapid and Rigorous Qualitative Data Analysis (RADaR) technique.
Results:
Participants emphasized that dashboards should function as actionable decision-support tools rather than static data repositories. Key priorities included integration of climate, health, infrastructure, and social vulnerability data; interactive mapping and multilayer visualization capabilities; granular geographic targeting; AI-enabled interpretation and plain-language summaries; and tools supporting both community and research users. Participants also highlighted the importance of community co-design, trusted dissemination, accessibility, and sustained infrastructure support. Stakeholders identified potential use cases including emergency preparedness, targeted outreach during disasters, resource allocation, policy advocacy, and community education.
Conclusions:
Findings suggest that effective climate and health dashboards require not only technical functionality, but also community-centered design, operational usability, and sustainable implementation infrastructure. These findings may inform development of future digital public health tools designed to support equitable disaster preparedness and response.
Citation
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Copyright
© The authors. All rights reserved. This is a privileged document currently under peer-review/community review (or an accepted/rejected manuscript). Authors have provided JMIR Publications with an exclusive license to publish this preprint on it's website for review and ahead-of-print citation purposes only. While the final peer-reviewed paper may be licensed under a cc-by license on publication, at this stage authors and publisher expressively prohibit redistribution of this draft paper other than for review purposes.