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Indicators for health education in Scotland; summary of findings from the 1996 Health Education Population Survey (HEPS)

Contents:Introduction
The Health Education Population Survey
Disease prevention
Behavioural risk factors
Stages of behaviour change
Smoking
Diet / nutrition
Physical activity
Mental health
Accidents / safety
Dental / oral health
Sexual health
Alcohol
Drug misuse
Conclusions
References

Introduction

The national targets for health are concerned with reducing the rates of premature mortality and morbidity, and the prevalence of health damaging behaviours. The priority topics for action are identified in the national policy statements Health Education in Scotland (SOHHD, 1991), Scotland’s Health: A Challenge to Us All (SO, 1992), and in other key documents. Behaviour and health are shaped by a wide range of factors, including the provision of services and the implementation of health protection policies at all levels. Achieving the national targets therefore requires the concerted effort of many agencies, including those concerned with health promotion. The particular contribution of the Health Education Board for Scotland (HEBS) to the health promotion effort in Scotland is expressed in its strategic aims (see BOX).

HEBS STRATEGIC AIMS

  1. Knowledge. Ensure that people know about major health issues and about the means to achieve good health.
  2. Motivation. Motivate people to effect changes in behaviour which promote good health.
  3. Skills. Help people acquire and use the skills necessary to secure improvements in health.
  4. Interventions. Devise and implement efficient and effective health education interventions across settings and sectors.
  5. Health promoter development. Motivate, support and enable existing potential health promoters to fulfil their roles effectively and efficiently.
  6. Networking/communication. Maximise interagency networking and communication to enhance partnerships for health promotion.
  7. Information base. Ensure that the Board’s activities are informed by expert, up-to-date knowledge and information.
  8. Evaluation. Ensure that the Board’s outputs are subjected to evaluation which is both objective and open to scrutiny.

In relation to the first three strategic aims, health education activities seeks to influence people’s health related knowledge, motivations and skills. Performance indicators are needed which reflect these strategic aims in order to monitor HEBS’s progress towards achieving these. The indicators presented in this report involve measures of knowledge, motivation, and skills in the priority topic areas, supplemented by prevalence data for relevant health related behaviours and health status measures. The Health Education Population Survey (HEPS) is the instrument by which the data are collected.

In addition to monitoring performance indicators, HEPS also contributes towards the evaluation of specific health education campaigns and other outputs, as well as to the planning and development of future health education initiatives.

HEPS is intended to complement existing surveys, most notably:

  • the HEBS Communications Tracking Survey which focuses specifically upon the communications effectiveness of HEBS mass media campaigns; the survey gathers data on the perceived impact, acceptability and understanding of messages and information, together with measures of awareness
  • the Scottish Health Survey commissioned by The Scottish Office Department of Health to provide monitoring data on national health trends and changes in behaviour in the population over time; the first sweep in March 1995 focuses on risk factors relevant to cardiovascular disease (CVD) and people’s experience of such disease, as well as other aspects of health related behaviour
  • health and lifestyle surveys conducted periodically by health boards; the Scottish Needs Assessment Programme (SNAP) has recently developed and piloted a set of core questions to promote consistency and comparability across health board areas.


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