Health Poverty Index
Following the publication of the NHS Plan, the Department of Health commissioned a scoping project to develop a Health Poverty Index (HPI). The project included a major consultation and a series of discussions within the Department of Health and between the Department of Health and other bodies charged with tackling the issue of health inequalities.
A group's 'health poverty' is a combination of their present health and their potential future health state. The HPI tool incorporates 74 indicators that influence health and health inequalities organised into nine main "domain" areas. These are regional prospects, local conditions, household conditions, resources to support health, healthy areas, behaviours and environments, resources for health & social care, appropriate care (primary, secondary and social), and health status. Users can look at the data as a spider diagram/radar chart, bar chart or table as they prefer to rapidly compare an area against England, other similar areas, or another local authority.
An updated version, including data for 2003 and by ethnicity, was launched on the 22nd of March 2007, developed by the School of Geography & Geosciences, University of St. Andrews, the Social Disadvantage Research Centre (SDRC) of the University of Oxford and the South East Public Health Observatory (SEPHO), on behalf of the Association of Public Health Observatories (APHO).
The HPI can be accessed via clicking here
