Measuring access to mental health and addiction services and to home and community health care

OTTAWA, March 22, 2018 /CNW/ - The Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) published a progress report today as part of its commitment to A Common Statement of Principles on Shared Health Priorities.

Working closely with federal, provincial* and territorial (FPT) governments, CIHI is supporting the development of a set of common indicators focused on measuring pan-Canadian access to mental health and addiction services, and to home and community health care.

Health indicators are measures designed to summarize information about health system performance or population health. They provide comparable and actionable information used by health care decision-makers across the continuum of care to track progress over time and to help inform decisions that lead to healthier Canadians. For nearly 25 years, CIHI has collected, analyzed and published data on Canada's health systems. CIHI makes a number of indicators available to the public through its Your Health System web tool.

Selecting Pan-Canadian Indicators for Access to Mental Health and Addiction Services, and to Home and Community Care: Progress Report explains the indicator selection process, provides the status of the work completed to date and outlines the current state of measurement in mental health and addictions, and in home and community health care.

In addition to identifying the state of information standards, infrastructure and measurement in these 2 sectors across Canada, the progress report also outlines how sector stakeholders, measurement experts and the public were engaged to provide advice on where to focus measurement. FPT government representatives will use this information as they work toward selecting meaningful indicators to measure pan-Canadian progress on improving access to mental health and addiction services, and to home and community health care.

* The federal government has agreed to an asymmetrical arrangement with Quebec, distinct from the Common Statement of Principles.

About CIHI

The Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) is an independent, not-for-profit organization that provides essential information on Canada's health systems and the health of Canadians.

We provide comparable and actionable data and information that are used to accelerate improvements in health care, health system performance and population health across Canada. Our stakeholders use our broad range of health system databases, measurements and standards, together with our evidence-based reports and analyses, in their decision-making processes. We protect the privacy of Canadians by ensuring the confidentiality and integrity of the health care information we provide.

SOURCE Canadian Institute for Health Information

Media contact : Olivia Olesinski, [email protected], [phone]