Healthy Living Indicators

Suzanne F. Jackson, Ph.D.Assistant ProfessorJanuary 29, 2010

Healthy Living Goal

Every person receives the support and information they need to make healthy choices.

Annie & George Stories

Annie is a young 17 year old who is in high school in a big city.

George is 40, unemployed, new immigrant to Canada from Bangladesh and lives in a small town in Canada

Healthy Living Goal - 2

Every person receives the support and information they need to make healthy choices.

Underlying Theory

(a) Information about healthy living (b) knowledge about healthy living options + supports (c) making healthy living choices

What do people know about healthy living choices? Where do they get their information? What choices are they making? What supports them in making those choices?

Overall Indicators

% who know about the “right” choices for healthy living

% who have adopted healthy living behaviours % facing barriers to knowledge or behaviour

change (no information or support) Presence of policies, legislation, environmental

conditions and other supports

Annie’s Story

Annie says she gets information about what to do right in her health class at school.

She can answer a whole survey of questions about healthy living choices correctly.

She and her friends smoke and eat junk food even though she knows it isn’t right because she uses smoking to deal with her frustrations at home and at school, she wants to be liked by her friends, and junk food is sold in the vending machines at her school.

George’s Story George likes to follow the eating customs of his

home country as much as he can because it is a comfort. And he walks everywhere in town because it is small and his wife uses the car.

He can answer most of the questions on a survey about healthy living choices correctly if the survey is in his language because life has taught him many things.

He would like to learn more about the “right” way to live in Canada but has never seen any information about this.

Things to Think About

What do we really know about how well this goal is achieved?

Still puts the emphasis on individual change Information – comes in different ways and from

different people Supports are very important – could be social

support, peer support, transportation support, policy support, friendly environments

Underlying Theory - 2

(a) Information about healthy living (b)

knowledge about healthy living options + supports (c) making healthy living choices

Indicators need to be about knowledge, individual behaviours, and the existence of the supports to help this happen

Healthy Living Targets

Healthy Eating Physical Activity Healthy Sexual Attitudes Healthy Minds and Spirits No tobacco use Appropriate alcohol and drug use Healthy hygiene practices

Targets with Indicators - 1

Area Health Target Selected Indicators

Healthy Eating

Increase by __% the proportion of people in your community* who make healthy food choices * Could focus on special groups in community like youth or children

% Eating fruits & Veggies

% Using Food Banks

% schools not selling junk food

Physical Activity

Increase by __% the proportion of people in your community who participate in regular physical activity

% reporting at least 30 min of moderate to vigorous activity per day

% in physically active jobs

Presence of public transportation & bicycle paths

Targets with Indicators - 2

Area Health Target Selected Indicators

Healthy Sexual Attitudes

Increase by __% the proportion of people in your community who report healthy sexual practices

% using condoms

% involved in domestic or gender violence

% with positive attitudes towards various sexual orientations

STD rates

Healthy Minds and Spirits

Increase by __% the proportion of people in your community who report positive mental health

% suicides

% with sense of purpose

% of community that does not stigmatize mental illness

% reporting high stress levels

Targets & Indicators - 3

Area Health Target Selected Indicators

No Tobacco Use

Increase by __% the proportion of people in your community who do not use tobacco.

% heavy smokers

% people with children who do not smoke in the home or car

Presence of tobacco taxes, laws to prevent sales to minors, warnings on packages etc.

Appropriate Alcohol & Drug Use

Increase by __% the proportion of people in your community that drink in moderation

% heavy drinkers

# of community events that do not sell alcohol

# drunk driving charges

Types of Indicators

Negative –what problems are we reducing? Positive – what are we achieving? Individual – what changes in individual

knowledge and behaviour are observed? Community – what community and social

supports exist? Policy & env conditions – what policies,

legislation, access to services, cultural aspects etc. exist?