Healthy People 2010 – Leading Health Indicators at national level
Healthy People 2010: Understanding and Improving Health represents a statement based report of the U.S. national health objectives, designed to provide a framework for healthcare prevention regarding the most important health national threats.
The report covers 28 focus areas and a set of 10 leading health indicators, used to measure the health of the nation over 10 years. The leading health indicators reflect the major public health concerns in the United States, being chose based on their ability to motivate action, the availability of data to measure their progress, and their relevance as broad public health issues.
Each indicator is first analyzed through its past 10 years performance, and afterward, objectives are set to monitor progress for the next 10 years. For example, one leading health indicator concerns physical activity. The participation in regular physical activity is analyzed between 1990-1999 through the graphic below.
The two objectives selected to measure progress among adolescents and adults for this leading health indicator are:
- Increase the proportion of adolescents who engage in vigorous physical activity that promotes cardiorespiratory fitness 3 or more days per week for 20 or more minutes per occasion.
- Increase the proportion of adults who engage regularly, preferably daily, in moderate physical activity for at least 30 minutes per day (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2000)
Since 1979, Healthy People has established and monitored the United States national health objectives to meet a broad range of health needs. Healthy People 2020 report is currently being developed, aiming to present assessments of major determinants of health and wellness, and emerging issues related to the U.S. health preparedness and prevention at national level.
For further examples of performance indicators, explore the Government State / Federal – Healthcare KPI examples section of the library of KPI examples available on smartkpis.com (smartKPIs.com, 2010).
References:
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 2000 , Healthy People 2010: Understanding and Improving Health
- smartKPIs.com (2010), Government State / Federal- Healthcare KPI examples
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2000
- health-equity.pitt.edu
Tags: Government performance, Healthy People, Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Performance in USA, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
