Planning and preparing the national HES

EHES Training seminar, Rome 11 February 2010

Päivikki Koponen

Keys to achieving the survey's objectives

• High quality planning and management • Ensuring that the survey can be effectively

implemented • in the shortest reasonable time • within the budget • with the highest quality that is affordable and

consistent with aims and purposes.

• All survey plans need to be repeatedly checked against the progress of actions.

Defining purposes and aims for national surveys

• Monitoring and forecasting the population’s health and health determinants

Uses of data• Prevalence of major diseases, risk and protective

factors• Assess health status and its association with

health promotion• Measure change• Predict future health status• Analyse equity• Estimate met and unmet need for health care,

social security benefits and rehabilitation• Develop national standards and reference values• Source for epidemiological studies and health

sciences research.

Implementing EHES standards

• New national HES • Planning and preparation based on EHES

standards

• Synchronizing EHES standards with an existing national HES• Balancing the need to follow national trends

and to ensure European comparability

• Incorporating EHES with an existing HIS• Organizing data collection successfully

Example of a modular structure in the survey

1. Survey design:Definition of the

scope and objectives

2. Planning and preparation

3. Pretesting and piloting

4. Final survey design,planning and preparation

5. Fieldwork and data collection

6. Data-file construction, analysis and reporting

Quality assurance

Planning for a new survey

Survey process

Capacity building at national level

• Actions needed to build the national HES• National objectives• Preparation of the national manual• National training seminars• Piloting• Organizing the HES• Data management and analysis• Reporting and dissemination of results

• Involve Stakeholders: NGOs, ministries

Expertise needed• Policy experts

• Use of data for evidence based health policy• Health care professionals and

representatives of other public services• Use of data for planning and evaluating health

services and health promotion activities • Scientists: Epidemiology, statistics, public

health etc.• Use of data for scientific research

• Other key expertise needed: fieldwork logistics and supervision, IT, communication and dissemination etc.

Project leader

Project co-ordinator

Steering Committee

Core group

Topic team 5Fieldwork

teamIT team

Laboratory team

Quality assurance

teamTopic team 4

Topic team 3

Topic team 2

Topic team 1 Survey organization

Gantt Chart example

Perth chart (Critical Path Analysis)

Plan

Manualv1

Questionnairesv1

Consentmaterials

Ethicalapproval

Manualv2

Pilot

RecruitmentTraining

Manual v3

Training

Fieldwork

Questionnairesv2

Aims of piloting

• Show critical issues for standardization• Plan training• Finalise manuals

• Feedback from participants• Motivate participation

• Feedback from fieldworkers• Timing & average duration of examination• Testing the use of equipments, computer

programmes etc.• Avoid unnecessary problems

Risk analysis & management: Potential

risks• Insufficient personnel resources for planning and

preparation• Shortage of fieldwork personnel• Insufficient time between pilot and actual

fieldwork• Problems in collaboration• Low motivation to participate• Violation of personal data protection• Safety risks for staff and participants• Crisis situations• Epidemics• Extreme weather conditions