 |
|
|
 |
|
||||||||
 |
|
|
Centre for Mental Health
Data management—Data and statistics
NSW Phone Health SurveyThe Epidemiology and Surveillance Branch conducts a program of health surveys across the State to monitor progress towards improving population health. The surveys provide information about physical and mental health on:
This information is used to inform and support planning and policy development in the 17 NSW Area Health Services and across the state. Telephone interviewers conduct the surveys using a computer-assisted telephone interview system (CATI). All interviewers are specially trained and supervised to ensure high quality, confidential, timely and cost-effective information. In 1997 and 1998, over 17,000 NSW residents aged 16 years or older were interviewed about their health. More information about the 1997 and 1998 NSW Health Survey is available. Results from the survey are also available. In 1999, the NSW Older People's Health Survey interviewed people 65 years and over about their health, factors that affect their health and well being and their use of health and aged care services. More information about the 1999 Older People's Health Survey is available. Results from the survey are also available. In 2001, the NSW Child Health Survey interviewed 9000 parents and carers of children aged 0-12 years about their child's health. In 2002, the Continuous Health Survey Program has been implemented to interview roughly 22,000 people each year about their health, factors that affect health and health services. National Mental Health ReportThe National Mental Health Reports describe progress made by the National Mental Health Strategy reform agenda set by all Australian Health Ministers in 1992. The National Mental Health Report was originally prepared for public reporting of data regarding State and Territory progress against each of the objectives of the National Mental Health Strategy. The role of the report has now broadened to also include an annual summary of mental health activity in Australia. The National Mental Health Report 2000 reports on progress over the period 1993-1998. During this period, substantial reforms have been made to the delivery arrangements of mental health services across Australia. In particular, there has been a reduced reliance on stand-alone psychiatric hospitals and an expansion in the delivery of community-based and primary mental health care. Suicide dataSuicide is a tragedy. Preventing suicide and suicidal behaviour in the NSW community is a high priority for the NSW Government. To plan and evaluate whether our interventions in suicide prevention are effective, data on suicide need to be available. Reliable and timely information on suicide and suicidal acts is essential for government departments, non-government organisations and community workers to plan suicide prevention programs that meet community needs. Up-to-date information on local suicide deaths, suicide attempts and suicidal thoughts helps inform a community on what actions it should take. The report Suicide in New South Wales: we need to know more: the NSW suicide data report presents data on suicide deaths identified systematically by the State Coroners and the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). The overall objective of this report is to provide statistical information about the size of suicide problems in NSW to assist program planners, policy makers, health care providers, key departments and agencies, researchers and community-based groups to identify risks, trends, magnitude and features of suicide-related problems. The report provides time-series information on the number and rates of suicide deaths and hospital separations for people of all ages and for younger and older people in New South Wales. Rates are also provided by means of suicide, by Area Health Service and by rural and urban region. Some information on risk groups is also provided. Suicide deaths, attempts and means are examined in greater depth in the younger and the older age groups (especially among males). Implications for suicide prevention from the data are highlighted where appropriate. More specific issues for prevention related to people of all ages, young people, and older people are presented at the end of these chapters. However, data are only meaningful if they allow us to target where and how we should try to prevent suicide. In this report, an attempt has been made to link the data to implications for suicide prevention. The data are useful in determining where interventions may be made and where the impact of these interventions may be monitored. They will help us to develop policies and protocols, based on evidence, which will allow us to prevent suicide and plan mental health services. Collaboration and coordination across the range of suicide prevention activity is essential to maximise outcomes. The strategic directions outlined in the NSW Suicide Prevention Strategy: Suicide. We can all make a difference provide a useful framework to respond to the implications for suicide prevention raised in this report Suicide in New South Wales: we need to know more: the NSW suicide data report. Reviews of NSW information on suicide and self harm, and epidemiological data were also published in the NSW Public Health Bulletin:
Mental health status of the people of NSWThe Report of the NSW Chief Health Officer on the health of the people of New South Wales provides a detailed account of available measures of health for our population. The report includes more than 200 health indicators, including the Mental health status of the people of NSW. The report is intended for health professionals, students and interested members of the general public. Other mental health data publicationsAnnual Reports under Section 301 of the Mental Health Act are: |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||
 |
||
|
||
|
||
 |
||
