VetHealth Atlas: Navigating Veteran Suicide Mortality Trends and Insights

Problem Definition

More than 17 veterans die by suicide every day in the United States, making it one of the most urgent public health challenges facing the nation. Despite the severity of the crises, recent policy shifts have limited the availability of health data from key federal agencies such as the CDC and NIH. As a result, stakeholders lack access to timely, granular, and actionable information needed to identify at-risk populations and guide effective interventions. 

The data that is available is often static, difficult to explore, and not integrated into tools that support real-time policy planning. This disconnect between data and decision-making significantly limits the ability of public health leaders, researchers, and advocacy organizations to respond proactively, especially at the state and local levels, where targeted action is most essential. 

Vision and Opportunity

We envision a future where public health and policy decisions are grounded in accessible, real-time, and geographically precise data. By unlocking the full potential of veteran suicide data, we can better inform resource allocation, tailor prevention strategies to high-risk communities, and support data transparency for researchers, advocacy groups, and agencies. The opportunity lies in bridging the gap between federal data silos and local decision-making by creating a tool that puts insights directly into the hands of those positioned to drive change.

VetHealth Atlas is part of a broader research initiative sponsored by the California Department of Veterans Affairs through 2027, aimed at transforming how veteran suicide data is collected, analyzed, and reported. This partnership ensures the platform is informed by real-world policy needs and positioned to support system-wide improvements in mental health equity and prevention across the state and beyond.

Our Solution

VetHealth Atlas is a web-based platform that transforms state-level veteran suicide data into an interactive dashboard with predictive modeling and geospatial visualizations. Our tool empowers users to explore trends over time, identify at-risk populations by demographic variables, and anticipate emerging suicide patterns using time-series forecasts. Designed for policymakers, researchers, and advocates, the platform delivers a user-friendly, data-informed approach to public health strategy—supporting targeted interventions and advancing equity in mental health care for those who served.

Social Impact

VetHealth Atlas is a catalyst for social impact, transforming how veteran suicide data is understood, shared, and acted upon. By making complex datasets accessible through intuitive visualizations and forecasts, the platform empowers communities to act earlier and more effectively. Public health officials, community leaders, and veteran service organizations can use VetHealth Atlas to identify geographic and demographic gaps in care—bringing visibility to underserved groups, including women veterans, Native communities, and LGBTQIA+ populations.

The platform’s transparency also fosters greater accountability, enabling local agencies and state policymakers to justify interventions with data-driven evidence. Its collaborative, open-access design breaks down silos between researchers, advocacy groups, and government agencies, creating a shared foundation for equity-driven decision-making. Ultimately, VetHealth Atlas aims not only to prevent suicide, but to reshape the systems that contribute to mental health disparities—ensuring those who served receive timely, targeted, and respectful support rooted in real-world needs.

Technology and Methods

The platform is built on a foundation of exploratory data analysis, geospatial mapping, and time-series forecasting using GLARMA and Poisson models. Data sources include state-level suicide mortality from 2001 to 2020, VA diagnosis datasets, and CDC mortality data. The dashboard is developed using Python-based tools such as Streamlit and Tableau, with a focus on usability and scalability. Our approach ensures insights are accessible to both technical and non-technical audiences.

Future Directions

We aim to scale VetHealth Atlas from state-level trends to county-level granularity, starting with California. Future development includes integrating real-time monitoring, adding new data sources (such as crisis line call data), and expanding to underserved veteran populations, including women, Native communities, and LGBTQIA+. We also plan to open source components of the platform and collaborate with public agencies to support long-term adoption, sustainability, and policy integration.