Health indicators

BATCH 3

Definition
Health

indicator is summary measures that

are designed to describe particular aspects of
health or health system performance

key statistic that indicates or points to

another measure (health factors)

What is it ?

it is a characteristic of an individual,
population, or environment which is subject
to measurement (directly or indirectly) and
can be used to describe one or more aspects
of the health of an individual or population
(quality, quantity and time).

INDICATORS can be

Count (number of..)

Proportion (percentage, number/per x)

Rate (frequency of an event during a specified

period expressed as
per 1,000 or 100,000) in a
defined population

Ratio (numerator not included in the denominator)

Average
Index

Uses of health indicators

Indicators are powerful tools for monitoring and

communicating critical information about population
health.

Indicators are used to support planning (identify

priorities, develop and target resources, identify
benchmarks) and track progress toward broad
community objectives.

Engagement of partners into a collaborative action

(build awareness of problems and trends, generate
interventions).

Division

Types of health indicators

Facts about indicators

Indicators only indicate: They do not capture or

convey the many dimensions of a given situation
and/or activity

They are directional: They provide basic information

on the past, present and possible future course of an
activity, program and/or behaviour

They are also very context-specific: Higher values or

lower values can be either good or bad, depending on
the situation.

Some limitations of indicators:

Indicators

rarely indicate specific cause of the

problem and possible comparison over time
and across facilities and Districts to show
trends in order to be useful.

INDICATORS

NEED TO CHANGE WITH TIME

Any set of health indicators should evolve in
response to the changing needs of the people

Major indicators

Awareness

THANK

YOU