Background: The Queensland preventive health telephone survey series has been conducted since 2002. This surveillance system is the primary mechanism to monitor risky health behaviours, such as smoking, obesity, and physical activity. Each year, the survey collects information on 12,500 adults and 2,500 children. Results inform a range of state wide preventive health strategies.
Aim: Data collection, dissemination, and use environments are changing rapidly. Survey methods are evolving to meet new expectations and to adapt to new challenges. This presentation describes three strategies employed by the preventive health surveillance system to maximise the use of data to inform policy directions within government.
Results: The first strategy involves enhanced dissemination strategies to meet multiple needs, including increased availability of regional information. The second strategy involves extending traditional surveillance system objectives beyond routine monitoring. Examples include (1) identifying and recruiting participants with low prevalent behaviours into targeted sub-studies, and (2) refining the periodicity of collection for health domains to enable enhanced collection of behaviours with specific policy interest. Lastly, the survey collected population benchmarking data for a novel subpopulation to assess bias in studies using non-probability samples.
Conclusion: Contemporary expectations for surveillance system information create both additional demands and opportunities. Leveraging these opportunities increases the value of this resources and will contribute to its ongoing viability.