The following presentation and posters were presented by IPH staff at the 24th All Ireland Social Medicine Meeting, held 20-22 March 2009

The 24th All Ireland Social Medicine Meeting included a scientific programme of oral and poster presentations on key issues in public health and social medicine. Presentation themes included obesity, health improvement, maternal and child health, cardiovascular health and cancer.

1. Local data to support local action (poster presentation)
Designed by Steve Barron, Kevin P Balanda, Lorraine Fahy,
Institute of Public Health in Ireland

National data can mask local variations. To identify local health needs and to plan for future health improvements at the local level, standardised comprehensive local data is needed.

Ireland and Northern Ireland’s Population Health Observatory (INIsPHO), housed within the Institute of Public Health in Ireland, adapted two existing sets of indicators to the island of Ireland: the English Health Poverty Index and the Northern Ireland Health and Social Care Inequalities Monitoring System.
The combined datasets comprise 82 measures of the political, social, economic, environmental and health and social services factors that affect health and wellbeing. The measures were compiled for each county in the Republic of Ireland (26 areas) and each Local Government District in Northern Ireland (26 areas). The data have been included in the INIsPHO eData website
( www.inispho.org/edata ) where users chart and map the data, or download it for later use.

This is the first time that comprehensive local data has been compiled across the island of Ireland. Since it was released in August 2008, the work has been well received, has stimulated considerable public debate about local variations in health and its determinants, and has generated significant traffic on the INIsPHO eData website. The datasets were subsequently used the CAWT profile and the Belfast Healthy Cities profile.

With support of key stakeholders, INIsPHO is planning a workshop to consolidate other existing data to form the core of an agreed suite of indicators that can be collated and regularly updated.

2.Public health networks (poster presentation)
Public health networks allow people to communicate and network across geographical and organisational boundaries. They help facilitate information sharing and linking of persons with common interests and skills to help deliver the public health function.

A number of networks have been set up to help support the public health function across the island of Ireland. The Health Analysts’ Special Interest Group (HASIG) was formed to support the health analysts’ community by providing opportunities to meet colleagues, share practical tools and advice, and support professional development. HASIG links to the All-Ireland CHAIN (Contact, Help, Advice, and Information Networks) which is co-sponsored by the Institute of Public Health in Ireland (IPH) and the Health Service Executive (HSE). CHAIN facilitates the sharing of knowledge and experience relevant to health care research and evidence based practice. The Injury Observatory for Britain and Ireland (IOBI) is a “virtual” observatory specific to injury information. IOBI supports injury prevention practitioners by making important and relevant information and tools available on a single website (http://www.injuryobservatory.net).

There are currently 280 members of HASIG and almost 400 members of All-Ireland CHAIN. The HASIG network operates via INIsPHO (www.inispho.org) and CHAIN (http://chain.ulcc.ac.uk/chain) websites, emails and seminars. Over 100 people attended three HASIG seminars in 2008. Feedback from attendees was very positive. Further seminars relating to technical and professional development will be held in 2009.

Public health networks provide a useful resource for public health professionals. Their success depends on them being well managed as well as encouraging active participation from its members.

3. Towards healthier education - the evidence (presentation given)
There is considerable evidence that those with more education experience better health than those with less education.  The Institute of Public Health in Ireland has recently published ‘Health Impacts of Education: a review’.  This review provides clearly interpretable information which demonstrates and explores the links between education and health.  The purpose of the document is to stimulate dialogue and action among people from different sectors whose work impacts in this area, from policy or practitioner perspective.

Key findings from the review will be presented which include:
•    The causal pathways between education and health (model).
•    Clearly documented evidence of the impact that poor educational status can have on health and illness.
•    An overview of the evidence which investigates the causal pathways between education and health particularly in the areas of economic, social and personal development.
•    Consideration of the factors which influence opportunities for education at different levels including national policies and programmes through to individual and family circumstances.
•    Key areas for action

This is the fourth in a series of reviews which aim to support more informed decision making for better health.  It will be particularly important as a support for those conducting Health Impact Assessments in this area.

Previous reviews focused on Transport, Employment and the Built Environment.

Downloads:

• Local_data_for_local_action_SB.pdf
• Public_health_networks_LF.pdf
• Claire Higgins Final Health impacts of education 21 March 2009.pdf

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