Building links for better research
WA's reputation as a research pioneer will be centre stage this week with a global gathering of health industry experts who share a passion for data and the drive to make a difference.
More than 300 guests from as far afield as Canada, the UK, USA, Scandanavia and across Australia have descended on Perth for a major international conference celebrating the role of data linkage in improving health and social outcomes.
Western Australia is a pioneer in the field and its progress and programs have been admired and emulated the world over. The collection, analysis and linking of important population health and health related data has had a huge influence on government policy and planning both here and overseas.
The conference will be launched by two of the globe's most recognised and respected child health experts, both pioneers in their field and both strong advocates for linking population health data to capture a snapshot of how the human race is developing and in particular, our children.
The Opening Address will be given by Founding Director and Patron of The Kids for Child Health Research and former Australian of the Year, Professor Fiona Stanley. Professor Stanley has dedicated her life to researching childhood illness and disease and under her leadership at The Kids the innovative Developmental Pathways project was initiated. This project links de-identified data from multiple state government agencies to help paint a picture of the social and health issues that affect our children's development and wellbeing.
The keynote speaker at the data linkage conference is internationally acclaimed Canadian researcher Dr Clyde Hertzman. A pioneering child health expert, Dr Hertzman has earned a solid reputation in Canada as the go-to-guy for a report card into how his nation's children are faring.
Driven by an ongoing desire to understand how children's health is influenced by their circumstances he was instrumental in a ground breaking Canadian project that saw kindy teachers collect in-school information to help build a learning and developmental snapshot of communities across Vancouver. For the first time people could see a neighbourhood-by neighbourhood map on the state of children's physical, social and emotional development on their language and cognitive skills. The results were influential in policy development which saw one Canadian state introduce full time kindy for 4 and 5 year olds. (For more detail on Dr Hertzman see attached)
The International Data Linkage Conference will be held at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre from 2 May - 4 May 2012. A full program can be found at www.datalinkage2012.com.au
The conference is hosted by The Kids for Child Health Research, The University of Western Australia, Curtin University and the WA Department of Health.
Professor Clyde Hertzman
- Dr Hertzman is Director of the Human Early Learning Partnership (HELP), Canada Research Chair in Population Health and Human Development and Professor in the School of Population and Public Health at UBC.
- Dr Hertzman is also a fellow of the Experience-based Brain and Biological Development Programme and the Successful Societies Programs of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIfAR) and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences.
- Dr Hertzman is the recipient of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) 2010 Canada's Health Researcher of the Year.
- Dr Hertzman's research has contributed to international, national and community initiatives for healthy child development and he has played a central role in creating a framework that links population health to human development.
Canada's 'Early Development Instrument' (EDI) is a population based tool that investigates the transition from pre-school to school years, using five scales of development including physical health, communication, language and cognitive development, emotional maturity and social competence.
The information gathered in the EDI has also been linked to Canadian school records with the data being utilised for ongoing research into child development. One study looked at the impact of reducing the vulnerability rates in young people across areas of Canada and the long term influence on the economy. The research found that by improving child development levels in the early years more children have the ability to go onto university and contribute more in the long run to a growth in the GDP.
Dr Hertzman's research reinforces the benefits of using linked health and health related data to show the state of children's development at key times throughout their childhood. His work is highly regarded as a valuable tool in painting a picture of whether or not children across the country are thriving.
Dr Hertzman will offer the conference a fascinating insight into his work and the use of population data linkage to shape key government agendas in his own backyard and across the globe.