Communicating Data…
“Exploring how the use of business intelligence software can help
tell the public health story in Dorset.”
David Goswell
Public Health Analyst
Public Health Intelligence Team
Why?
• Growth in data visualisation generally.
• New audience in the local authority.
• The need to translate masses of health data into a
coherent stories that can influence decisions.
• Working more efficiently and be more versatile
• Tableau is free to use and can be used together with
other products
What?
How we got to this point:
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Encouraged to communicate differently
Learning new techniques and creating new ideas
Online training is free
Wide range of examples online
Putting this into practice (4 pieces of work)
1. Health checks.
Pros:
Cons:
• Use of infographic to
summarise data.
• Easy to identify poor
performance and
drill down further.
• GPs could see how
they fared.
•Data behind Tableau
incomplete.
•Logistic regression
performed outside and
brought in – not
efficient.
•Filters not synched.
1. Health checks.
1. Health checks.
1. Health checks.
2. Tobacco control.
Pros:
• Directed the
discussion to debate
future
commissioning.
• Brought context to
our analysis.
• Enabled us to query
data within the
meeting
Cons:
• Design could be
improved.
• Adding to the story
has meant it is less
fluent.
• Unhappy with 4
week quit as key
outcome
2. Tobacco control.
2. Tobacco control.
2. Tobacco control.
3. Sexual health.
Pros:
Cons:
• Refined paper
based documents.
• Good use of filter to
show differences.
• Brought in wider
determinants.
• Some calcs not
working as we
would want (Pan
Dorset avg).
• Do bubbles work in
this context?
• Asset map a
struggle!
3. Sexual health.
3. Sexual health.
4. Health inequalities in Boscombe.
Pros:
Cons:
• Hosts a lot of data
• Use of filters to
show differences
between practices
• Highlights
performance in
Dorset
• Filter for population
pyramids not ideal
• Too much data?
• Is the variation in
size misleading?
4. Health inequalities in Boscombe.
4. Health inequalities in Boscombe.
What have we learnt?
Positives
• Greater efficiency in handling data
• Creation of coherent stories
• Providing health data for different audiences
• Scope for further development
Difficulties
• Potential barriers (time, style over substance)
• IT (web browsers, internet connection, installation)
• Information governance
What next?
Short-term (next 6 months)
• Develop greater competency
• Better data warehousing
• Development of tableau principles and usage
guidance
• Integration with R and GIS software
Long term
• Website to host visualisations
• Data blending software
Links:
https://public.tableausoftware.com/profile/dgoswell#!/vizhome/Healt
hchecksinDorset/HealthChecks
https://public.tableausoftware.com/profile/dgoswell#!/vizhome/Smo
keStop/SmokingServices
https://public.tableausoftware.com/profile/dgoswell#!/vizhome/SHte
st/Story1
https://public.tableau.com/profile/lee.robertson#!/
Contact:
Lee Robertson, Senior Public Health Analyst
L.Robertson2@dorsetcc.gov.uk
David Goswell, Public Health Analyst
d.goswell@dorsetcc.gov.uk