Consideration of a health related question. The inclusion of a long term health condition question would be advantageous to understand the exact prevalence of chronic conditions across all areas of Australia, and how it relates to other demographic factors. The inclusion of a discrimination/racism question would also be of value.
Choose your area of interest
Please select one item
(Required)
Population
Sex and gender
Households and families
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples
Income and work
Unpaid work and care
Education and training
Disability and carers
Housing
Location
Transport
Cultural diversity
Religion
Ticked
Other topic
If Other topic please specify
Health
Assessment Criteria 1
1.
This topic is of current national importance.
National Importance
Chronic conditions are the leading cause of illness, disability and death in Australia (AIHW). Data is needed to support policy development, planning or program monitoring. Small area analysis of health data (not currently available through other publications) is critical to understanding the health status and service needs of all Australians.
Assessment Criteria 2
2.
There is a need for data from a Census of the whole population.
For whole population
Data is needed for small population groups as well as small geographic areas. The comprehensive nature of the census is preferable to current health collections, as groups in remote and very remote regions are often overlooked. Furthermore, current surveys seek to identify single persons in the household whereas the census will be able to capture this information of all people (adults and children) in the same household.
Assessment Criteria 3
3.
The topic can be accurately collected in a form which the household completes themselves.
Easy to answer
Various standardised questions already exist in regards to assessing long term chronic conditions of respondents. Chronic diseases are often discussed in 8 major groups; arthritis, asthma, back pain, cancer, CVD, COPD, diabetes and mental health conditions. These common conditions would be readily identifiable of respondents who have these conditions. A simple question asking the respondent to identify if they have any of these conditions (tick box, multiple response) would allow users of the data to determine levels of chronic disease, as well as the socio-demographic factors of people with multiple chronic conditions.
Assessment Criteria 5
5.
The topic can be collected efficiently.
Collected efficiently
8 response categories as described previously. If this is not favourable, a yes/no question could exist if respondents was asked if they had any chronic condition which may include.....(list conditions), or how many of those conditions they had (0,1, 2+)
Assessment Criteria 6
6.
There is likely to be a continuing need for data on this topic in the following Census.
Continuing need
Time series data would be vital to understand the growing burden of chronic disease in the community. The topic will most definitely remain relevant in the future
Assessment Criteria 7
7.
There are no other alternative data sources or solutions that could meet the topic need.
No alternatives
Although this data is collected in the National Health Survey, the continuity of the data is not secure, and does not reach all areas of Australia meaning small area analysis is difficult.