2020 VA Datathon

Abhay Sri
Oct 27, 2020
2 min read

Recently, I competed in the 2020 VA Datathon. I was in a team of 6, and we represented Deep Run High School. In fact, we were the only high school team competing. Our competition included teams representing local governments like VDOT to multi-billion dollar companies like InfoSec. Needless to say, we were not expecting to place at all, as we were essentially up against people who did data science for a living. However, the outcome surprised us.

The goal of this Datathon was to use open data sets to support solutions that benefit communities impacted by COVID-19. Because this topic was so broad, we had a variety of ideas and focus areas we could choose. Eventually, we decided on determining how COVID-19 has impacted the mental health of Virginians, and some solutions to this problem. Mental health has been a growing problem in recent years, and we felt like the isolation from lockdown could potentially lead to an increase in mental health problems.

Once we collected data, we graphed the frequencies of anxiety or depression symptoms shown in VA during the COVID-19 Lockdown. What we found as a result of our research confirmed our suspicions - mental health disorder cases during the COVID-19 pandemic showed a clear positive trend.

In addition to the increased number of anxiety and depression symptoms, Virginians were facing a lack of mental health care professionals. We found that only around 42.5% mental health needs were met, leaving over half of the people untreated. This is a serious problem that still continues today, and we wanted to bring light to it. During our presentation, we provided facts that highlighted increased economic and mental stress as a result of the pandemic. For example, as a result of the job loss from the pandemic, more adults reported anxiety or depressive symptoms. Furthermore, we found that many parts of Virginia were struggling to recruit mental health professionals, as shown in the data below.

All in all, the VA 2020 Datathon was an enlightening experience. Not only did our entire team learn more about data science and how to turn data into information, we also received an Honorable Mention. As the only high school team competing, this was a huge accomplishment in our eyes. The Honorable Mention perfectly ended the Datathon and left us with something to feel happy about. Personally, I am excited to compete again next year, when it will hopefully be in-person.

See our full presentation here: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1dGosUAG9O4fOC4E_J3Op8aBwr9ZrpysGtuhXTRQmIzA/edit?usp=sharing