About Health Indicators

Background

In response, Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) and Statistics Canada launched a collaborative process to identify what measures should be used to report on health and the health system. As a first step, and in order to gain a better understanding of the types of indicators to develop and report, the first Consensus Conference on Population Health Indicators was convened in May 1999. This conference resulted in an initial core set of indicators, as well as a list of indicators that could be considered for future development (see National Consensus Conference on Population Health Indicators (PDF).

Five years on, priorities and directions for the health indicator project were broadly revisited at a second consensus conference held in March 2004 (see The Health Indicators Project: The Next Five Years (PDF).

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 with 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.

Consultations continue with provincial and regional health authorities to ensure relevant data and consistent methods.

Top of Page

Health indicators framework

The health indicators framework (PDF) describes the current indicators, categories and dimensions.

You need to use the free Adobe Reader to view PDF documents. To view (open) these files, simply click on the link. To download (save) them, right-click on the link. Note that if you are using Internet Explorer or AOL, PDF documents sometimes do not open properly. See Troubleshooting PDFs. PDF documents may not be accessible by some devices. For more information, visit the Adobe website or contact us for assistance.