The Work of a Public Health Analyst

1. The Work of a Public Health Analyst Simon Chant Head of Public Health Intelligence October 2009

2. Public Health is….. …the science and art of preventing disease and promoting health through the organised efforts of society Faculty of Public Health www.fph.org.uk

4. Concepts and Principles • Looking after populations, not individuals • How do you investigate, diagnose and treat populations? • Improving health • Prevention better than cure: “Upstream approach” • Working in partnership with other agencies • Planning effective services: based on needs and evidence • Protecting health • Communicable disease and environmental hazards

5. The Public Health Approach

6. Public Health IntelligenceSources of Data

7. Sources of Data 1 • Population • Births and Mortality • Incidence and Prevalence of Disease • Disease Registers • Modelled Estimates • Surveillance Systems • Immunisation and Screening

8. Sources of Data 2 • National Surveys • Local Surveys • Public Health Service Usage • Immunisation and Screening • Hospital Activity • Prescribing • Other datasets – ID2007, NESS, Nomis

9. National comparisons and tools A variety of websites are available allowing national comparison and the ability to access multiple datasets in one place • NCHOD www.nchod.nhs.uk • Cancer Intelligence Service • NHS Comparators Website www.nhscomparators.nhs.uk • Nomisweb – Labour Market Statistics • Neighbourhood Statistics (ONS)

10. Public Health IntelligenceUsing The Data

11. Using The Data – Geography • Data is available and analysed at a variety of geographic levels • Devon • Devon Localities (3) • Local Authority District (8) • Devon Town (29) • Small Areas • Middle Super Output Area (107) • Ward (201) • Lower Super Output Area (457) • Census Output Area (2,440) • Postcode (30,000 active postcodes)

12. PCT Boundary Map

13. Locality Map

14. District Map

15. Devon Towns Map

16. Ward Map

17. Lower Super Output Area Map

18. Using The Data – Methods Used • Modes of Presentation (seen in later examples) • Tables • Graphs • Maps • Methods of Analysis • Numbers, Percentages and Crude Rates • Standardisation • Confidence intervals • Health Needs Assessments, Health Equity Audits, Health Impact Assessments

19. Standardisation Example • Crude rate vs age-standardised rate

20. Using The Data – Devon-wide • Example 1

21. Using The Data – Devon-wide • Example 2

22. Using The Data – Smaller Areas

23. Using The Data – Smaller Areas • Example 1

24. Using The Data – Smaller Areas

25. Using The Data – Practices/Clusters • Practice level data includes • Data only available at practice level (i.e. QOF prevalence, prescribing, immunisation) • Data available at practice and geographic levels (i.e. hospital admissions, population) • Geographic data estimated to practice level using patient postcodes (i.e. deprivation) • Clusters (practice groupings) are useful when counts are small at practice level or patterns in the wider community are being analysed

26. Using The Data – Practices/Clusters

27. Using The Data – Communities of Interest • As well as geographic areas and practices we sometimes need to look at other divisions of the population. This includes: • Particular social groups (i.e. social class, deprivation, ethnic groups) • Particular age and sex groups within Devon • Particular lifestyle types (i.e. smokers) • In these cases it is useful to see how different groups of the population experience of health varies

28. Using The Data – Deprivation

29. Using The Data – MOSAIC

30. Using The Data - Rurality