The ONS has launched an 'experimental version' of its health index, which was proposed in 2018 by the then Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dame Sally Davies, and it is currently open for public consultation before being finalised in 2021.
The ONS Health Index not only measures how healthy people are today but also looks at the wider social and economic circumstances that will influence our ability to live healthy lives in the future.
The Index, as proposed:
- uses a broad definition of health, including health outcomes, health-related behaviours and personal circumstances, and wider determinants of health that relate to the places people live, such as air pollution
- provides a single value for health showing how health changes over time and can be broken down to focus on specific topics to show what is driving these changes
- provides a measure of health for local authority areas (upper tier) and enables comparison between areas.
To find out more, you’re invited to join this live webinar, hosted by the Health Foundation at 13.00–14.00, Tuesday 19 January 2021. Dame Sally Davies and guests will share more about the index, why it was commissioned, and how it can be used in practice.
Register for free, using the link above.