Bringing Change by Measuring Impact

Health Information Management and Applied Epidemiology for Health Care Workers in South Africa

sa-data

Module 1

Importance of Data, Measurement, & Performance in Public Health

Learning Objectives
  • Recognise the importance of strong data and information in guiding health services and programmes, and of front-line health workers in contributing to data systems.
  • Define data and information; explain the differences between the two concepts.
  • Describe the purposes for using data in public-health practice, with reference to the South African Community-Oriented Primary Care model (COPC), as well as other models of public-health practice.
  • Define indicators; explain why and how they are used, and how they are selected for use in the monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of health programmes.
  • Explain the patient-care pathway and the data cycle.
  • Explain the roles of facility health care workers in the data cycle, and in the monitoring and evaluation of health programmes.
  • Distinguish between monitoring and evaluating health programmes.
  • Explain how data can be used in making decisions about patient care and health programmes.
  • Discuss consequences related to poor use of data and information in addressing a health problem.
  • Identify examples of best practices and missed opportunities in using data to improve patient and population health.
  • Define applied epidemiology, and why its tools are helpful in improving health services, programmes, and systems.

Welcome to Module 1! In this module, we will learn about why good data and information are so important to effective public-health efforts. We will learn about basic public-health functions, and follow and learn the steps of typical patient and data pathways. This module will also introduce us to concepts we will explore further in later modules, including indicators, monitoring and evaluation, the roles of health care workers, and how to use data for decision-making.

Part 1: Introduction (30 minutes)

Part 2: Public Health Functions (15 minutes)

Part 3: Data & Information (20 minutes)

Part 4: Data Cycle & Patient Pathway (45 minutes)

Part 5: Monitoring & Evaluation (15 minutes)

Part 6: Indicators (15 minutes)

Part 7: Data for Decision Making (15 minutes)

  • Summary

    Congratulations on completing the first module of this distance-learning course on Health Information Management and Applied Epidemiology! As health workers, we share a goal of helping others achieve the best health possible. By dedicating yourself to completing this course, you will gain skills toward this goal.

    To summarise, Module 1 provided us with an introduction to the entire course by reinforcing what we know about the importance of data, measurement, and performance in public health.

    We began in Part 1 by looking at patient scenarios of patients to help us learn why we should care about data. We were then introduced to the health-care workers whose stories will be featured throughout this course in order to help illustrate best practices in public-health data and clinic management.

    In Part 2, we learned about the main functions of public health, and how data inform each of these functions.

    In Part 3, we learnt more about what exactly data and information are, with examples of each.

    Part 4 introduced us to the patient pathway and the data cycle that needs to happen as patients move through that pathway.

    Part 5 introduced us to monitoring and evaluation—the ‘why’ behind the data cycle. (We will explore the data cycle in more detail in Module 3.)

    In Part 6, we were introduced to the concept of indicators.

    This was followed in Part 7 by an explanation of evidence-based decision-making in health programmes.

    We finished up with a brief look at epidemiology in Part 8.

    Each part in Module 1 lay the groundwork for further exploration into the collection, use, and analysis of data in public health. The modules that follow will go into further detail, through discussions on quality improvement, data collection and use, epidemiology, data presentation, and more. Enjoy!

Print Workbook

Print Workbook Answer Guide

  • References

    Definition of public health. World Health Organization.

    The 10 Essential Public Health Services: An Overview. Office for State, Tribal, Local and Territorial Support, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, March 2014.

    Adapted from Charles Mock, DGH531

    Seymour Williams, SAFETP Resident Advisor, speech to cohort graduates, December 2013 & 2014

    National Insititute for Communicable Diseases (NICD). Introduction to Epidemiology. Dr. Lazarus Kuonza.August 2015

    USAID/MEASURE. Introduction to Basic Data Analysis and Interpretation for Health Programs Training Tool Kit. Version 1. May 29, 2011.