Doudelyne Cenafils
MPH
doudelyne.cenafils@waldenu.edu
Product 11
Database Information: Death Certificates Records
Introduction:
Upon the request of one of the Health Department representatives, I was asked to conduct a search from the city of Worcester Death Certificates Records database. From this database, I would access the death records of the city’s residents using their names. Upon retrieving information on the cause of death, I would generate a list with the information obtained. Thus, the artifact below contains a record of individuals who died in the year 2011, including their gender and the date of death. Also, on the side, it contains the cause of death, whether substance abuse related or from cardiovascular disease. However, as shown, the cause of death could not be found for certain cases. In fact, preparing a data set for public use takes a considerable amount of time. As a result, complete files are usually not available for many months after the end of the calendar year. Before then, preliminary files are made available to the Department of Health to provide provisional data until the files are completed. The department uses this preliminary statistics as a form of evaluation and to develop prevention programs.
Reflections:
Death Statistics are a fundamental source of
information used in the evaluation of the health of a population and the
circumstances associated with injury and chronic disease. Death statistics are
used in various manners at all levels of public health practice. The city
master file was not only important for death verification but also for
investigation and surveillance lead by the agency. This tracking tool was a way for the agency
to tie the cause of death of individuals in the city at a particular period
with specific health determinants in the population. For instance, if the
majority of the deaths was due to opioids abuse in the population, the agency
will then focus on developing new programs or simply accentuates on existing
ones in order to provide support for the residents through education,
interventions, and specific preventive measures. In other words, these data aid
local health practitioners in identifying the diseases and conditions
frequently associated with death and preparing for future needs for health
services. Through the analysis and publication of the number and rate of deaths
for specific diseases and injuries, support is generated for injury and disease
prevention programs. And so, from this assignment, I was able to use planning
skills an use organizational and community resources for evaluation and
development of public health programs
Artifact:
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