PREPARED BY:
Epidemiology & Evaluation Department
DATE:
September 15, 2022
SUBJECT:
Windsor-Essex Health Status Indicator (WE-HSI) Dashboard
BACKGROUND/PURPOSE
The focus of public health is to understand and address the health of the whole population. Through a population health approach and applying a social determinants of health lens, the goals of public health include improving health & quality of life, reducing morbidity and premature mortality, and reducing health inequities.
The Ontario Public Health Standards (OPHS; 2021) establish the requirements for public health programs and services and describe how those programs are to be implemented. The four domains of focus include: 1) Social determinants of health (SDOH); 2) Healthy Behaviours; 3) Healthy Communities; and 4) Population Health Assessment.
As the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit (WECHU) transitions into conducting non-COVID-19 programs and services, the Epidemiology & Evaluation (E&E) department will be responsible in conducting population level assessment and surveillance of Windsor-Essex County (WEC). Assuming that COVID-19 activity will ebb and flow locally, the transition to non-COVID work will not be linear and will require ongoing flexibility to adapt as required.
The E&E department will approach the renewal and transition phase of the pandemic by assessing the population’s health through a topical approach as identified in the OPHS (2021) through a phased approach in 2022 and into 2023.
DISCUSSION
The E&E department has applied Business Intelligence (BI) principles to WECHU’s renewal and transition efforts. As a result, dashboards will be focal point of deliverables, which will produce a visual and interactive deliverable to end users. The collection of topic based dashboards will provide internal WECHU staff, local stakeholders, policy and decision-makers, community partners and residents of WEC the resources to understand their community while aiding in program and policy decisions.
The following table identifies the topics the E&E team will produce over the course of 2022 and into 2023. Topics not identified are not due to exclusion, rather a lack of data availability (e.g., CCHS for indicators pertaining to healthy eating, physical activity, sleep, etc.). Where possible, alternative (or proxy) indicators will be identified.
| Topic* | Month |
|---|---|
| Infectious Disease (monthly and annual) | June |
| Mental Health (including self-harm) *assuming survey roll out |
June |
| Reproductive Health Outcomes | July |
| All Cause Mortality | August |
| Substance1 (hospital data on alcohol, cannabis, methamphetamines, etc.) | August |
| Healthy Pregnancies, Preconception Health (Folic Acid) and Infant Feeding (BORN) | September |
| All Cause Morbidity & Quality of Life | October |
| Growth and Development | October |
| Injury (including falls and concussion) | October |
| Socio-Demographics – Based on 2021 Census release schedule | November |
| Oral Health | November |
| School Immunizations | December |
| Cancer | February 2023 |
*Topics not found on this list are due to existing data not being available. This includes sleep, healthy eating, physical activity and sedentary behaviour, etc.
1Excludes opioids which will have its own dashboard congruent with what is found on the WECOSS website.