The art of drawing numbers and stories in the air: epidemiology, information, emotion and action

Cofiño, Rafael; Prieto, Miguel A.; Suárez, Óscar Jardey; Malecki, Kristen

doi:10.1136/jech-2014-203883

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…Examples of the types of actions communities have been taken and different ways the data have been used are available at http://www.countyhealthrankings.org/roadmaps/stories and http://www.countyhealthrankings.org/roadmaps/projects . Also, our methodology has been adopted by public health organizations in other countries, for example the Asturias Health Rankings in Asturias, Spain [ 30 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The County Health Rankings: rationale and methods

Remington

Catlin

Gennuso

2015

Popul Health Metrics

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BackgroundAnnually since 2010, the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation have produced the County Health Rankings—a “population health checkup” for the nation’s over 3,000 counties. The purpose of this paper is to review the background and rationale for the Rankings, explain in detail the methods we use to create the health rankings in each state, and discuss the strengths and limitations associated with ranking the health of communities.MethodsWe base the Rankings on a conceptual model of population health that includes both health outcomes (mortality and morbidity) and health factors (health behaviors, clinical care, social and economic factors, and the physical environment). Data for over 30 measures available at the county level are assembled from a number of national sources. Z-scores are calculated for each measure, multiplied by their assigned weights, and summed to create composite measure scores. Composite scores are then ordered and counties are ranked from best to worst health within each state.ResultsHealth outcomes and related health factors vary significantly within states, with over two-fold differences between the least healthy counties versus the healthiest counties for measures such as premature mortality, teen birth rates, and percent of children living in poverty. Ranking within each state depicts disparities that are not apparent when counties are ranked across the entire nation.DiscussionThe County Health Rankings can be used to clearly demonstrate differences in health by place, raise awareness of the many factors that influence health, and stimulate community health improvement efforts. The Rankings draws upon the human instinct to compete by facilitating comparisons between neighboring or peer counties within states. Since no population health model, or rankings based off such models, will ever perfectly describe the health of its population, we encourage users to look to local sources of data to understand more about the health of their community.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The County Health Rankings: rationale and methods

Remington

Catlin

Gennuso

2015

Popul Health Metrics

291

252

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“…used the County Health Rankings population health model in Asturias, Spain, but reduced the weight given to “health care” (from 20 to 10 percent) since all residents have access to health care (Cofiño et al. ).…”

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confidence: 99%

“…Separate models could be generated for each state, based on the observed data in that state. Interestingly, Cofiño et al used the County Health Rankings population health model in Asturias, Spain, but reduced the weight given to "health care" (from 20 to 10 percent) since all residents have access to health care (Cofiño et al 2014).…”

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confidence: 99%

County Health Rankings and the Cult of the Imperfect

Remington

2015

Health Services Research

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Sir Robert Watson-Watt, who developed early warning radar in Britain during World War II to counter the rapid growth of the Luftwaffe, proposed a "cult of the imperfect," which he stated as "Give them the third best to go on with; the second best comes too late, the best never comes" (Brown 1999). Just as imperfect radar detected incoming German aircraft to protect British citizens, imperfect public health surveillance systems are widely used to measure and monitor the health of populations to mobilize action toward community health.Defined as the ongoing systematic collection, analysis, interpretation, and dissemination of health data for use in planning, implementing, and evaluating public health practice, public health surveillance serves as the centerpiece of all community health improvement efforts (Remington and Flood 2014). In practice, public health surveillance is a continuous process involving four diverse components: (1) data collection, (2) analysis, (3) interpretation, and (4) dissemination. Each of these steps in the process requires different skills and systems. Information technology and systems engineering are needed to design data collection systems. Epidemiologic and biostatistical methods are needed for data analysis, especially for small areas where data may be sparse or missing. But public health surveillance also requires skills in communications and program planning, to assure that the data are translated into useful information that supports community health improvement efforts (Remington and Nelson 2010).The long-standing tradition of public health surveillance has been simply to "disseminate" results to those working in the public health system. Increasingly, public health surveillance systems have focused on developing specific communication plans to define the purpose of communicating information, understand audiences, develop messages, select appropriate channels, Health Services Research market the information, and evaluate the process and outcomes. The ultimate purpose of these systems is to improve the health of populations by informing or persuading individuals or policy makers (Parvanta et al. 2002).The County Health Rankings have become one of the most widely recognized public health surveillance systems in the nation (Remington, Catlin, and Gennuso 2015). Annually since 2010, the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation have produced the Rankings, which serve as a "population health checkup" for the nation's more than 3,000 counties. We base the Rankings on a conceptual model of population health that includes both health outcomes (mortality and morbidity) and health factors (health behaviors, clinical care, social and economic factors, and the physical environment). Data for over 30 measures are available at the county level for over 3,000 counties in the United States, and they are assembled and combined to create composite measures that are then ordered and counties are ranked from best to worst health within each state.The...

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Los informes de salud como eje de los servicios de salud pública

et al. 2016

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The main objective of health reports is to contribute to the health improvement of a specific population. They are an essential support tool for the design and planning of health policies and can also be used for accountability and evaluation. This study assesses various types of health report, including that used by the City of Barcelona (Spain), with a focus on social determinants, as well as an international health report more centred on the impact of health services. Some suggestions are proposed about the appropriateness and best use of these documents, including: the need for effective communication between technical professionals and politicians through meetings and dialogue; commitment to transparency, both authors (by means of the declaration of interests) and in terms of the information reported and with the maximum level of participation; to promote the use of a conceptual framework of social determinants of health; a focus on health inequalities; the inclusion of information relevant to policy action; the organisation of information in such a way that it allows comparison or benchmarking with similar areas and prospectively; presenting the information in an attractive way using elements such as rankings, maps or other tools; and the design of communication strategies adapted to key stakeholders.

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The art of drawing numbers and stories in the air: epidemiology, information, emotion and action

Cited by 4 publications

References 5 publications

The County Health Rankings: rationale and methods

The County Health Rankings: rationale and methods

County Health Rankings and the Cult of the Imperfect

Los informes de salud como eje de los servicios de salud pública

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