News Archives |
Volume 4 No 38; 24 September 2010
Health Protection Profiles launched
A new facility for the public to access online maps, graphs and tables illustrating trends and regional variations in a number of public health "indicators" has been launched on the HPA website.
The new facility, known as Health Protection Profiles (HPPs) [1], has made previously-published information more accessible through the use of interactive maps and other graphics and a user-friendly presentation, in line with government policy of increased transparency in respect of non-personal data held by public bodies. They are primarily intended for a lay audience and were developed by the Agency's Local and Regional Services Division following consultation with and feedback from members of the public. Health professionals may find the profiles helpful in needs assessments, commissioning services and to track the impact of local initiatives (see also Sexual Health Profiles below).
The indicators covered by HPPs are in three main categories: measures of disease rates or other ill health indicators (eg TB and sexually transmitted infections, and food poisoning notifications); data relating to health protection activities/interventions (eg uptake of MMR, human papillomavirus vaccine (HPV) and seasonal influenza vaccination programmes); and environmental hazards (eg radon gas levels in homes above the designated Action Level).
Users may access and view data in a variety of formats. The two main interactive formats are:- "map profiles" - that display one indicator at a time with indicator values for all parts of the country, allowing values in different areas to be directly compared [2]; and
- "area profiles" - that display the value and relative ranking for all indicators in one particular geographical area, allowing a local area's "health characteristics" to be viewed, including whether they are higher or lower than the national average [3].
More detailed information is available in data tables. Users can also choose to save customised data tables, convert tables to charts and export documents.
The online interactive mapping facility makes use of proprietary software (InstantAtlas™) that has previously been used by the HPA Centre for Infections' Microbiology and Epidemiology of STIs and HIV (MESH) Department in its Sexual Health Profiles (SHPs) facility [4]. This is designed for the benefit of strategic health authorities and primary care trusts and others commissioning services related to the Department of Health's Sexual Health and HIV Strategy.
Like HPPs, the SHPs are backed up by more in-depth (but not graphical) information ("metadata files") providing: (a) data on sexual health trends (ie rates of diagnosis and prevalence of particular STIs [5]); and (b) measures of performance (eg uptake of HPV vaccination in young women, chlamydia screening, etc [6]). The SHP trend and performance data is intended to the support those commissioning services to identify requirements and, in the case of the performance data in particular, to monitor the success or otherwise of programmes/interventions against targets or objectives.
References/notes
1. www.hpa.org.uk/healthprotectionprofiles.
2. See examples of Map Profiles at: http://profiles.hpa.org.uk/IAS/dataviews/report?reportId=3&viewId=6&geoId=7&geoSubsetId.
3. See examples of Area Profiles at: http://profiles.hpa.org.uk/IAS/dataviews/report?reportId=8&viewId=16&geoId=7&geoSubsetId.
4. HPA website. Sexual Health Profiles, at: http://www.hpa.org.uk/Topics/InfectiousDiseases/InfectionsAZ/SexualHealthProfiles/ ; and Sexual Health Profiles User Guide, at: http://www.hpa.org.uk/Topics/InfectiousDiseases/InfectionsAZ/
SexualHealthProfiles/SexualHealthProfilesUserGuide/.
5. HPA website. Sexual Health Profile trend data (covering syphilis, gonorrhoea, genital warts, STI/HIV co-infection, chlamydia and HIV/AIDS at: http://www.hpa.org.uk/Topics/InfectiousDiseases/InfectionsAZ/
SexualHealthProfiles/SexualHealthProfilesTrends/.
6. HPA website. Sexual Health Profile performance data (covering HPV vaccination, chlamydia screening, late diagnosis of HIV, HIV testing and access to GUM services): http://www.hpa.org.uk/Topics/InfectiousDiseases/InfectionsAZ/SexualHealthProfiles/
SexualHealthProfilesPerformance/.