The coordination of health surveillance includes working with data providing organizations such as Statistics Canada and the Canadian Institute for Health Information to ensure that the Public Health Agency of Canada receives important public health information that helps us to better understand the health issues facing Canadians.
Surveillance coordination also means working with
the Provinces and Territories to provide tools to better manage
data. Such tools include:
the Framework
and Tools for Evaluating Health Surveillance
Systems,
and the soon to be launched -
Inventory of
Public Health Data Sources and Surveillance
Activities.
The Health Surveillance Coordination Committee provides a forum for the Public Health Agency of Canada and Health Canada in which to discuss issues related to health surveillance programs. In this context, surveillance is broadly defined, to include not only disease, but alsohealth risk factors and health determinants amenable to public health action. The principal aim of the committee is to add value to the Agency’s existing health surveillance efforts by promoting, sharing, minimising duplication of effort, promoting standards, and providing advice.
Framework
and Tools for Evaluating Health Surveillance
Systems
is a tool designed to help managersof health surveillance systems
identify and document issues relating to the
rationale,implementation and effectiveness of their health
surveillance systems. The Framework andTools provide standard
approaches that managers can apply in their efforts to identify
currentpractices and to enhance the ability of surveillance to
provide relevant information for the reviewof public health
objectives.
Six steps are outlined for systematically reviewing the purpose, design, management and operational characteristics of a system within the context of its program.
Step 1 Establishing the context of the surveillance system
Step 2 Developing evaluation questions
Step 3 Designing the process for data collection and management
Step 4 Collating and presenting the findings
Step 5 Reviewing an evaluation report
Step 6 Following up on the use of findings
The ease of implementation and degree of success of an evaluation is closely linked to:
Inventory of Public Health Data Sources
and Surveillance Activities
is an integrated public health resource, including data sources
regarding injuries, chronic disease risk factors, environmental and
occupational health as well as documenting the data repositories
and surveillance systems within the Public Health Agency of Canada.
It is revised and updated annually by the Office of Public Health
Practice.
The Inventory of Public Health Data Sources and Surveillance Activities aims to increase the awareness of the existence of data sources, to help identify in a common way the content of the data sources and to readily demonstrate the gaps and overlaps in data collection as well as demonstrating their variability.
The Inventory identifies and addresses:
For more information, contact publichealthpractice@phac-aspc.gc.ca
or call toll free: 1-877-430-9995.