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The Canadian Index of Wellbeing: Key Findings From the Healthy Populations Domain

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Abstract

Objectives

The Canadian Index of Wellbeing (CIW) is an ambitious undertaking that aims to measure and track Canadians’ overall “wellbeing”. The Healthy Populations, one of eight CIW domains, brings together both population health outcomes and important influences on health.

Methods

Indicators from eight subdomains (personal wellbeing, life expectancy/mortality, physical health conditions, functional health, mental health, lifestyle and behaviour, health care, and public health) make up the Healthy Populations domain. Following a review of worldwide literature on health and wellbeing indicators, application of a prespecified set of selection criteria, and expert external validation, ten core indicators and six secondary indicators were selected. The data sources include several national population data systems (CCHS, NPHS) and databases kept at the Canadian Institute for Health Information. Indicators were examined for trends over time, and were stratified by age, sex, income and education. A single summary measure, health domain index, was calculated and reported annually from 1994 to 2008.

Results

Analysis of data over a 15-year time period found that Canadians are living longer, but with fewer years in optimal health. Diabetes rates have risen, along with obesity rates, while smoking rates are on the decline and regular physical activity is becoming more common. There were notable income and education gradients for virtually all indicators measured, and gender disparities evident for life expectancy, health-adjusted life expectancy, diabetes, and depression. A worrisome downward trend in health outcomes for Canada’s youth (12-19 years) was observed. The overall health index score showed a modest rise of 6.6% from 1994 to 2008.

Conclusion

The Healthy Populations domain, and its ongoing use and refinement, can be an important resource for understanding and monitoring the health of Canadians. Knowledge about the status of Canadians’ wellbeing will benefit from the contextualization of these findings through evidence generated from the other CIW domains.

Résumé

Objectifs

L’Indice canadien du mieux-être (ICMÊ) est un ambitieux projet qui vise à mesurer et à suivre le « mieux-être » général de la population canadienne. Le domaine des Populations en santé, l’un des huit domaines de l’ICMÊ, établit des liens entre les résultats de santé de la population et les grands facteurs qui influencent la santé.

Méthode

Le domaine des Populations en santé comprend des indicateurs pour huit sous-domaines (mieux-être personnel, espérance de vie/mortalité, troubles physiques, santé fonctionnelle, santé mentale, mode de vie et comportement, soins de santé, santé publique). Après un examen de la documentation mondiale sur les indicateurs de la santé et du mieux-être, nous avons appliqué un ensemble prédéterminé de critères de sélection, que nous avons fait valider par des spécialistes indépendants, et sélectionné 10 indicateurs de base et 6 indicateurs secondaires. Nos données provenaient de plusieurs bases et systèmes nationaux de données démographiques (ESCC, ENSP) hébergés à l’Institut canadien d’information sur la santé. Nous avons cherché à déceler les tendances des indicateurs au fil du temps, et nous avons stratifiés les indicateurs selon l’âge, le sexe, le revenu et l’instruction. Une mesure sommaire unique, l’indice du domaine de la santé, a été calculée et publiée annuellement entre 1994 et 2008.

Résultats

L’analyse des données sur 15 ans a permis de constater que les Canadiens vivent plus longtemps, mais moins d’années dans un état de santé optimal. Les taux de diabète ont augmenté, tout comme les taux d’obésité, tandis que les taux de tabagisme ont baissé et que l’activité physique régulière a gagné du terrain. Presque tous les indicateurs mesurés font état de gradients notables pour le revenu et l’instruction, et de disparités manifestes entre les sexes sur le plan de l’espérance de vie, de l’espérance de vie corrigée en fonction de la santé, du diabète et de la dépression. Une tendance baissière inquiétante observée au Canada est celle des résultats sanitaires des jeunes (12-19 ans). L’indice de santé global a présenté une légère hausse (6,6 %) entre 1994 et 2008.

Conclusion

Le domaine des Populations en santé (et son utilisation et son perfectionnement continus) peut être une importante ressource pour comprendre et surveiller la santé des Canadiens. Les connaissances sur le mieux-être de la population canadienne profiteront de la mise en contexte de nos constatations à la faveur des données probantes produites dans les autres domaines de l’ICMÊ.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Community Health and Epidemiology, Health Sciences Building, University of Saskatchewan, 107 Wiggins Road, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5E5, Canada

    Nazeem Muhajarine PhD & Brandace D. Winquist MSc

  2. Saskatchewan Population Health and Evaluation Research Unit, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada

    Nazeem Muhajarine PhD

  3. Department of Epidemiology and Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, and Institute of Population Health, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada

    Ronald Labonte PhD, FCAHS

Authors
  1. Nazeem Muhajarine PhD
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  2. Ronald Labonte PhD, FCAHS
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  3. Brandace D. Winquist MSc
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nazeem Muhajarine PhD.

Additional information

Acknowledgements: This paper is an abbreviated version of a full-length report published by the Canadian Index of Wellbeing foundation that is available at: https://uwaterloo.ca/canadian-index-wellbeing/sites/ca.canadian-index-wellbeing/files/uploads/files/CIW2012-HowAreCanadiansReallyDoing-23Oct2012_0.pdf. The authors acknowledge the contributions of Jacqueline Quail, Elisabeth Bartlett, Matthew Sanger, Toby Sanger and Fleur Macqueen Smith to the full report. We also thank colleagues in the CIW project and from Statistics Canada for their feedback and assistance; external anonymous reviewers and a number of experts who commented on the full report and on the selection of indicators; and the Atkinson Foundation for their initial leadership and support of the CIW project.

Conflict of Interest: None to declare.

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Muhajarine, N., Labonte, R. & Winquist, B.D. The Canadian Index of Wellbeing: Key Findings From the Healthy Populations Domain. Can J Public Health 103, e342–e347 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03404438

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03404438

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