Measuring Health & Wellbeing PHABC Summer School - July 7th, 2017 Shannon Clarke, MPH Healthy Communities Planner Capital Regional District

Why does measurement matter? We manage what we measure! If we don’t measure the right things, or if we measure the right things the wrong way, we will end up managing the wrong things… Plus, how will we know if we are achieving our goals if we don’t measure?

What are we doing about it here in the capital region?

Regional Outcomes Monitoring (ROM) Collaborative

What is the ROM Collaborative? Multi-sectoral collaborative Interest in monitoring health & wellbeing outcomes Began in the fall of 2013 The ROM group – that stands for Regional Outcomes Monitoring – is a group of representatives from agencies that are involved in policy, program funding and/or planning, and decision-making in the capital region. The group began in the fall of 2013 when the CRD invited a few stakeholders to discuss the need for and interest in developing a shared understanding of and framework for community health and wellbeing for the capital region and a shared set of indicators to monitor progress on outcomes relating to this framework.

Current ROM Members Capital Regional District Inter-Cultural Association Children’s Health Foundation Island Health Community Social Planning Council United Way of Greater Victoria Eldercare Foundation University of Victoria Horner Foundation

We aim to… Work with community agencies to identify desired regional outcomes Use an equity lens to develop a robust set of indicators for each outcome Identify data sources for each indicator & gaps where data does not exist Develop a comprehensive data warehouse accessible to all who need it Provide context to better understand the data & use it to inform planning, policy & decision-making Ultimately, the ROM group is meant to be a multi-sector collaborative that will inform and develop a comprehensive yet concise profile of community health and well-being that can be used to inform evidence-based policy and funding decisions, establish priority areas in need of attention and report on progress made towards a shared vision of healthy and vibrant communities in the capital region.

Health & Wellbeing Goals Economic Security Inclusive, Connected Communities Affordable & Appropriate Housing Healthy, Safe Environments Food Security Accessible Human Services Thriving Children & Youth Connection to Arts & Culture Lifelong Learning Recreation & Active Living

What are goals vs. outcomes vs. indicators?

Goals Outcomes Indicators The high-level objectives for community health & wellbeing. Indicators The conditions that would exist when the ideal state envisioned in the health & wellbeing goal is achieved. Specific measures for outcomes that allow: A baseline of the current state to be determined; Development of appropriate &/or desired targets; and, Monitoring of progress. At a high-level, we talk about our goals. These are things like ‘economic security’ or ‘thriving children and youth’ or ‘inclusive communities’. 30,000 foot level. Outcomes are more specifically what we would like to achieve within each of our goals; for example ‘Elimination of Childhood Poverty’ would be a desired outcome within the goal area of economic security. Indicators are what we use to measure or monitor our progress toward those desired outcomes. For example Children Living in Low-Income Families would be an indicator of our progress toward the elimination of childhood poverty.

EXAMPLE Goal: Food Security Outcome: All residents in the capital region are food literate. Indicator: # of organizations in the region that are offering community kitchen programs.

The Process Community agency engagement to define outcomes Identification of indicators & data sources using an equity lens: Robust set of indicators for each outcome is identified Data sources are identified & data warehouse created Available data is analyzed & visualized Context & tools are provided to inform use of the data Data gaps are identified with potential ways to fill those gaps

Community Capacity Building We want to support local governments & community agencies We want to make data available with tools to understand & use it We want to inform healthy public policy & decision-making We want to support what’s already going on at a community level. We want what we produce to be relevant and of value. We want data to be available to the networks and organizations that need it, and we want to develop a report that highlights where we are doing well to improve health and wellbeing, and where we need to make some improvements or focus our efforts. And ultimately we want the data we collect to inform policy and funding decisions and help to establish priorities for collective action.

Any questions?

Thank you! Contact Shannon @ sclarke@crd.bc.ca 250-360-3174