PORT HOPE, ON (July 31, 2024) – The Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge (HKPR) District Health Unit is pleased to announce the launch of its new Public Health Data Dashboards, a digital resource that aims to better improve the understanding of community health and provide transparency of past and current health trends.

The Public Health Data Dashboards provide an in-depth look at vital public health data, enabling the HKPR District Health Unit and other community partners to better understand trends, identify areas of concern, implement targeted interventions, and develop programs and services that will have a positive impact on community health and well-being.

“Our Public Health Data Dashboards are not only beneficial for municipal leaders, community partners and residents, but will also help us redefine and better inform our public health approach in the future,” said Dr. Natalie Bocking, Medical Officer of Health and Chief Executive Officer for the HKPR District Health Unit. “We now have a whole suite of community health dashboards that are providing invaluable data so that we can better control the spread of illness and monitor emerging health trends. This is a significant step in public health, and I am proud of the work completed to date.”

The Public Health Data Dashboards feature a user-friendly interface that allows users to explore local data on various public health indicators, including chronic diseases, infectious diseases, injuries, mortality and the most recent census of population information. The dashboards are presented for the HKPR District Health Unit area, but in many cases, the dashboards can also be filtered to one of the three counties (City of Kawartha Lake, County of Haliburton and Northumberland County) and/or Ontario.

What Dashboards are Launching Now?
First to launch are the following dashboards, available now on the HKPR District Health Unit website.

1) Census Profile Dashboard: Explore data from Statistics Canada’s Census of Population 2021 including population trends, families, dwellings and households, income, language, mobility and education, and employment and community.  

2) Chronic Diseases Dashboard: Explore local data for emergency department visits and hospitalizations for select chronic diseases including cancer, cardiovascular diseases, and respiratory diseases. 

3) Infectious Diseases Dashboard: Explore the number of lab-confirmed cases for 75 infectious diseases including reportable respiratory, sexually transmitted/blood borne, vaccine-preventable and vector-borne diseases, as well as the number of outbreaks declared in highest-risk settings. 

4) Injury Profile Dashboard: Explore the number and rate of emergency department visits and hospitalizations due to injuries such as falls, sports and recreation, poisoning, transportation and more. 

5) Mortality Profile Dashboard: Explore the number and rate of deaths occurring among residents of the HKPR District Health Unit area including premature, avoidable and cancer-specific fatalities. 

Additional Dashboards Set to Launch in Fall
The HKPR District Health Unit will continue to report community outbreaks and opioid overdose-related information through the new Public Health Data Dashboards and anticipates launching additional dashboards in the fall of 2024 featuring updated dashboards for respiratory infections and opioid overdoses, along with a new mental health data dashboard.

The HKPR District Health Unit is committed to providing accurate, timely and understandable data that can influence decision-making, policy development and ultimately improve the health and well-being of our community. The launch of this new Public Health Data Dashboard marks a significant step towards achieving this goal and inspiring impactful change.

The Public Health Data Dashboards are available now at hkpr.on.ca/data.

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