Population Health Index: A tool for identifying geographical health inequalities

Purpose: Health inequalities have been increasing in Europe, namely within urban areas, reinforcing the need to evaluate and select policies with a potential to lessen them. To address this challenge, comprehensive tools are... [ view full abstract ]

Purpose: Health inequalities have been increasing in Europe, namely within urban areas, reinforcing the need to evaluate and select policies with a potential to lessen them. To address this challenge, comprehensive tools are required for evaluating population health in multiple dimensions and in multiple geographical levels, from national to local. Two research projects (Portugal: GeoHealthS; European Union: EURO-HEALTHY) produce evidence on the role of a Population Health Index as a multidimensional tool for identifying geographical health inequalities. The aim of this presentation is to demonstrate the application of the Population Health Index to the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, Portugal.

Methods: The Population Health Index is based on a socio-technical approach that introduces transdisciplinary research which takes into consideration not only a set of indicators regarding health determinants and health outcomes (e.g. demographic, social, economic, environmental, lifestyle, and health care), but also the points of view of stakeholders and experts from various areas of knowledge.

Conclusions: The geography of the Population Health Index reveals inequalities in major areas of concern for population health, mainly those related to the social, economic, physical and built environment (e.g. water and sanitation, solid waste treatment, housing conditions, public security; road safety; air pollution). The results have the potential to improve the understanding of the local decision-makers regarding the major problems that affect population health, and to illuminate areas of priority for intervention.