Decision-makers need information about the health of their people. Researchers can help by making this information easy to access, timely and relevant. Sets of information are called health information systems and include a number of indicators such as death rates, rates of disease and disability and the risk factors that cause death and disability e.g. smoking rates. Through seven different projects, this thesis explored how these indicators and systems can help decision-makers identify what is important, what works and when, and suggest why it might be working in a particular group of people at a particular time. It demonstrates the need for new information when those that are routinely collected are not fit for purpose. The first part of the thesis explored how routinely collected indicators can be used to aid monitoring and reporting of health and wellbeing. The Well North project, the European Health Information Initiative, and The Global Urban Health Indicators Interdisciplinary Hub (GUII) guided the development of a methodology for identifying, selecting, and organising indicators, and these projects helped explore existing challenges in health information systems in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs). The next study explored the Years of Life Lost due to COVID-19 in 20 countries. This was particularly important due to the nature of the pandemic and highlighted differences between countries. The Urban Health Index was a way of combining indicators to look at a snapshot of the health of a population in a city using the data that were available. The final section of this thesis investigated the use of health indicator tools through examining a study on the impact of a cancer awareness training, and another on evaluating the effect of educational levels on knowledge, attitudes, and practices towards COVID-19 in Nigeria. The thesis discussed the importance of transparency, the advantages of community input, and the challenges in indicator selection. It found challenges that exist especially if decision-makers need to compare between places e.g. countries, cities, over time, and between different information systems. In low income countries, it found that there were significant challenges with basic data collection and reporting and useful methods to help estimate diseases by using estimates from neighbouring countries. The thesis presented two studies that effectively used indicator tools nationally and internationally, which highlighted the importance of adapting methodologies through community engagement and cultural considerations. This thesis demonstrates how health indicators play a vital role in understanding and managing health challenges nationally and internationally. However, they also have their limitations which means that often additional data collection is needed for effective evaluation of interventions. Recommendations included transparent decision-making, the understanding of the cultural context and the inclusion of communities in all parts of the process.
- Health indicators
- Public Health
- Global burden of disease
Health indicators and the global burden of disease
Williams, G. (Author). 1 Aug 2024
Student thesis: Phd