Public health surveillance systems "Evidence informing practice"

Surveillance is as an essential function of a public health system. This thesis contains three discrete examples of public health surveillance, each utilising different methods and data sources to inform relevant areas of public health practice in NSW. The first study, which investigated the epidemiology of STIs in NSW, is an example of population-level surveillance. The findings illustrate that surveillance data for STIs in NSW are influenced by testing practices and other factors which impact on specificity and sensitivity of the reporting system. The second study investigated a hospital-acquired infection, C. difficile and is an example of surveillance in a high-risk setting such as a hospital. This research demonstrates the need for continued vigilance to be maintained when monitoring hospital-acquired infections and suggests that infection with C. difficile demands greater attention, in particular in the community setting, which is an emerging area. The last study uses screening as a form of surveillance to enable early identification of preventable conditions in refugee students attending an Intensive English centre. All three studies demonstrate the importance of public health surveillance at various levels of influence. They aim to further develop the idea of translating research into practice by demonstrating that public health surveillance is the foundation for decision making and action. The results from the first study were used to communicate the importance of an expanded collection of data sources to illustrate STI rates in NSW. The second study was used as an impetus for hospital infection prevention and control practitioners to supplement ongoing C. difficile surveillance activities with other data sources such as medical record review and inpatient hospitalisations. The findings from the evaluation of a school-based screening program were used as an advocacy tool for State-wide roll out of similar program. All three studies have served the purpose of providing decision makers with timely and valuable research evidence to manage programs more efficiently and effectively.

Grantor dc:publisher

UNSW, Sydney

Year dc:date

2016

Author dc:creator

• Wozniak, Teresa

• infectious disease
• population health
• surveillance systems
• health policy

Statement dc:rights

• open access
• CC BY-NC-ND 3.0
• free_to_read

Licence

• https://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2
• https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/au/

Language dc:language

EN

Identifier

https://doi.org/10.26190/unsworks/18801

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:unsworks.library.unsw.edu.au:1959.4/55652