Background

In 1998, over 500 people - health administrators, researchers, caregivers, government officials, health advocacy groups, and consumers - were brought together to identify health information needs. One of their priorities was comparable quality data on key health indicators for health and health services.

In response to the consultations, CIHI and Statistics Canada have launched a collaborative process to identify what measures should be used to report on health and the health system - and then to share this information with Canadians from coast to coast.

Health indicators are:

• relevant to established health goals
• based on standard (comparable) definitions and methods
• broadly available - disseminated electronically across Canada at the regional, provincial and national level

The primary goal of the Health Indicators project is to support health regions in monitoring progress in improving and maintaining the health of the population and the functioning of the health system for which they are responsible through the provision of quality, comparative information on:

• The overall health of the population served, how it compares to other regions in the province and country and how it is changing over time;
• The major non-medical determinants of health in the region;
• The health services received by the region's residents; and
• Characteristics of the community or the health system that provide useful contextual information.

 

Consultations continue with provincial and regional health authorities to refine and expand the initial list of indicators confirmed at the consensus conference of May 1999. As data are compiled, the provincial and regional authorities are also involved in the verification process. This collaborative process is intended to ensure relevant data and consistent methods.

Health Indicators Framework

The core list of health indicators is presented in the following table, within the Indicators Framework. The indicators included in this Volume (underlined) are available at the Canada and province level (with the exception of disability-free life expectancy and crude mortality counts and rates, which are also available at the health region level) and represent a subset of this core list of indicators. Volume 2000, No.1 presented a number of indicators that are available at the Canada, province and health region level. Subsequent releases will add indicators and time series as these data are developed at the regional level, and new health data are collected.

Health Status
Well-Being	Health Conditions	Human Function	Deaths
Self-rated health Self-rated health as 'very good' or 'excellent' for two or more consecutive survey cycles Self-esteem	Body Mass Index (BMI) (Canadian standard) Body Mass Index (BMI) (International standard) Arthritis/rheumatism Diabetes Asthma High blood pressure Chronic pain - affects activities Chronic pain - severity Depression Low birth weight All cancer incidence Lung cancer incidence Colorectal cancer incidence Breast-female cancer incidence Prostate cancer incidence Injury hospitalizations Food and waterborne diseases	Functional health Two-week disability days Activity limitation Disability-free life expectancy	Infant mortality Perinatal mortality Life expectancy Potential years of life lost (PYLL) Crude counts and rates Total mortality All circulatory disease deaths Ischaemic heart disease deaths Cerebrovascular disease deaths All other circulatory disease deaths All cancer deaths Lung cancer deaths Colorectal cancer deaths Breast-female cancer deaths Prostate cancer deaths All respiratory disease deaths Pneumonia and influenza deaths Bronchitis, emphysema and asthma deaths All other respiratory disease deaths Suicide Unintentional injury deaths AIDS deaths Age-standardized rates: Total mortality All circulatory disease deaths Ischaemic heart disease deaths Cerebrovascular disease deaths All other circulatory disease deaths All cancer deaths Lung cancer deaths Colorectal cancer deaths Breast-female cancer deaths Prostate cancer deaths All respiratory disease deaths Pneumonia and influenza deaths Bronchitis, emphysema and asthma deaths All other respiratory disease deaths Suicide Unintentional injury deaths AIDS deaths
Non-Medical Determinants of Health
Health Behaviours	Living and Working Conditions	Personal Resources	Environmental Factors
Smoking status Youth smoking status Smoking initiation (average age) Quitting smoking Frequency of heavy drinking Leisure-time physical activity Breastfeeding	High school graduation Post-secondary graduation Unemployment rate Long-term unemployment rate Youth unemployment rate Low income rate Children in low income families Average personal income Housing affordability Decision latitude at work Income inequality Crime rate and youth crime rate	School readiness Social support Life stress
Health System Performance
Acceptability	Accessibility	Appropriateness	Competence
	Influenza immunization, 65 years and over Screening mammography, women aged 50-69 years Pap smears, women aged 18-69 years Childhood immunizations	Vaginal birth after caesarean Breast-conserving surgery Caesarean sections
Continuity	Effectiveness	Efficiency	Safety
	Pertussis Measles Tuberculosis HIV Chlamydia Pneumonia and influenza hospitalizations Deaths due to medically-treatable diseases Ambulatory care sensitive conditions	Surgical day case rates May not require hospitalization % Alternate level of care days Expected compared to actual stay	Hip fracture hospitalization
Community and Health System Characteristics
Population Population aged 65 and over ‘Urban’ population Aboriginal population Immigrant population Expenditures Doctors Nurses		Coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) Hip replacement Knee replacement Hysterectomy Myringotomy Teen pregnancy/teen births

Health Regions

Health regions are defined by provincial governments as the areas of responsibility for regional health boards (i.e., legislated) or as regions of interest to health care authorities.

(1) In PEI, Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan, the legislated health regions have relatively small populations. In order to produce reliable and comparable health indicators, these provinces have defined health regions for statistical purposes. In PEI, the two health regions divide the province into 'urban' and 'rural' components. In Nova Scotia, these are known as 'health zones' and relate to the province's administrative health region boundaries. In Saskatchewan, 'service areas' have been created from groupings of the 33 health districts.

(2) Public health units (PHU) administer health promotion and disease prevention programs. District health councils (DHC) are advisory, health planning organizations that make recommendations on resource distribution and provide advice on integration of health services in their community.

You need to use the free Adobe Acrobat Reader to view the above pdf documents.

Troubleshooting PDFs