Context enrichment of health risk surveillance data for use and application: conceptual considerations from an Australian perspective

Increasing the relevance of health surveillance data for use and application remains a critical issue among users and stakeholders. However methods for displaying and communicating health risk data could do more to enrich these data for use and application. There is too much focus on developers, users and stakeholders and not enough focus on pathway models of disease and health. A greater focus on pathway models would help detail a wider explanation of the health problems across sectors and encourage better acceptance of responsibility for their occurrence within other sectors. Contextual enrichment of health data would encourage a shared theory among these players that would permit greater use and application. Better use of data and its translation into information and increased policy traction are likely to be achieved through processes that effectively: (1) establish a shared theoretical base for risk behaviour surveillance; (2) deliver data about the health and developmental status of individuals living in contexts over time; (3) maintain a systems approach to monitoring and surveillance that builds capacity for development, ownership, access to and dissemination of the data outside of the health system and (4) achieve sustainable partnerships that produce more intersectoral engagement. Copyright Birkhäuser Verlag, Basel 2005