pdhpe - health priorities in Australia

• Dementia and Alzheimer's disease are also significant causes of death in older Australians.
• Definition of Epidemiology

  Epidemiology is the study of key health information (life expectancy, infant mortality, morbidity rates, healthcare services). Epidemiology provides information on the distribution/pattern of disease, illness and injury and on likely causes (or determinants) within groups or populations
• What is Mortality

  Mortality is the number of deaths from a given causes in a specific population within a certain time frame
• What is Morbidity

  Morbidity is the rates and trends of a disease, illness and injury in a specific population
• What is Life Expectancy

  Life expectancy is the expected number of years of life remaining for a person at a given age and is estimated from the death rates in a population
• What is infant Mortality

  Infant Mortality is the number of deaths among children aged under 1 in a given period
• What can Epidemiology tell us

  1. The major causes of sickness and death - to identify any emerging issues
  2. Identifying areas of need so that specific prevention and treatment interventions
  3. Determining priority areas for the allocation of government funding
  4. Monitoring the use of healthcare services and facilities