Workshop: Exploring population and health trends – the ONS Longitudinal Study
Time: 14.00-16.30
Date: Friday, 22 January 2010
Venue: Room 46AD03, The University of Surrey, Guildford, Surrey, GU2 7XH

The Office for National Statistics Longitudinal Study (LS) offers a 1% sample of the population of England and Wales. It draws its data from each Census (1971, 1981, 1991 and 2001 so far), linking the information (on both individual and household) together to form a developing history for each sample member. Data are also drawn from the Registrar General’s birth and death records, among other sources. It is a very important data source for many fundamental population studies. Recent topics of LS research have included inequalities in life expectancy, health and socio-economic status; a profile of the ‘oldest old’; migration trends; the outcomes of cohabitation; the effects of childlessness and of single parenthood in women; and the changing ethnic distribution of the population.

Despite the importance of the LS it remains little-known outside government departments, and yet it is not difficult to use. The aim of this workshop is to describe the LS, some possible research uses of it and how to access it; and to offer hands-on experience of analysing the LS by means of specimen datasets. The Longitudinal Studies of Scotland and Northern Ireland will be briefly described, as will the other Census data resources available for academic use in England and Wales.

Hands-on exercises will use SPSS; guidance will be provided for those unfamiliar with it.

The workshop is free to attend, booking and further information is available here.

Southend, 26 June

Time: 10.30-16.00 (10.00 registration and refreshments)
Date: Friday, 26 June 2009
Place: University of Essex, Southend Campus, Elmer Approach, Southend-on-
Sea, SS1 1LW
Booking and information:
http://www.data-archive.ac.uk/news/eventdetail.asp?id=2175

This workshop will include an introduction to the data services offered by
Census.ac.uk and is aimed at those studying or working in the UK higher and
further education sector, but is not limited to those already registered to use
the census.

At this workshop users will be introduced to the activities of the Centre for
Interaction Data Estimation and Research (CIDER) and the Web-based
Interface to Census Interaction Data (WICID) data extraction system.

Rachel Stuchbury, Julian Buxton and Christopher Marshall from the Centre for
Longitudinal Study Information and User Support (CelSIUS) will introduce the
Office for National Statistics Longitudinal Study, with a focus on health and
ethnicity, discussing data sources and structure, offering suggestions for
research topics and designs, showing how to access the data and giving
participants an opportunity to explore the data for themselves using two
teaching datasets, on ethnicity and limiting long term illness respectively.

Shane Bartley, Strategy and Performance Advisor at Southend Borough
Council, will give a short talk about their preparations for the 2011 census.

The workshop is free to attend and includes lunch and refreshments. However
travel and accommodation costs will need to be met by the participants.

Booking and information:
http://www.data-archive.ac.uk/news/eventdetail.asp?id=2175

 LG03, New Academic Building, London School of Economics

14th  May 2009

Programme

10.30 Registration and Coffee

11.00 Introduction by the Chair

11.10 Marital history and mortality using ONS Longitudinal Study data, Emily Grundy, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

 3.50 Final questions and comments

4.00 End of meeting

3.10 Associations between self reported health and mortality in the UK: analysis of the Longitudinal Studies of England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Harriet Young, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

2.30 Reinvigorating your data with some contextual colour: examples from the Northern Ireland Longitudinal Study. Dermot O’Reilly, Queens University Belfast

12.50 Lunch (not provided) Optional demonstration of the Centre for Longitudinal Study Information and User Support (CeLSIUS) web resources.

1.50 Using the Scottish Longitudinal Study to consider the effects of widowhood on mortality,   Paul Boyle, University of St. Andrews

 12.20 Paid employment, permanent sickness and mortality risk: England and Wales 1971-2001, David Blane, Imperial College London

11.50 Examining the influence of health selection on male mortality by socio-economic position, England and Wales, 2001-04,  Chris White, Office for National Statistics

This day meeting is open to all, and is free of charge. However, - please email pic@lse.ac.uk or phone 020 7955 7666 to pre-register   pre-registration is essential

Time: 10.00-15.45
Date: Thursday, 16 April 2009
Place: Level 3A/3B, Main Building, City University, Northampton Square,
London, EC1V 0HB
Booking: http://www.data-archive.ac.uk/news/eventdetail.asp?id=2174

Rachel Stuchbury, Julian Buxton and Christopher Marshall from the Centre for
Longitudinal Study Information and User Support (CelSIUS) will introduce the
Office for National Statistics Longitudinal Study, with a focus on health and
ethnicity, discussing data sources and structure, offering suggestions for
research topics and designs, showing how to access the data and giving
participants an opportunity to explore the data for themselves using two
teaching datasets, on ethnicity and limiting long term illness respectively.

Jo Wathan and Selvino deKort from the Cathie Marsh Centre for Census and
Survey Research, Manchester University will talk about the Samples of
Anonymised Records (SARs) from the 2001 Census. These are a family of
datasets for one census point only. In this presentation and hands-on session
they will introduce the data and show how they can be used to look at health
for different ethnic groups. The hands-on session will enable participants to
use the data themselves using online tools and SPSS. Further information
about the data can be obtained at http://sars.census.ac.uk.

There are now three census-based record linkage studies covering all
constituent parts of the UK, the Office for National Statistics Longitudinal
Study (ONS LS) covering England and Wales (established in the mid 1970s);
the Scottish Longitudinal Study (SLS) and the Northern Ireland Longitudinal
Study (NILs), both of which were launched in 2007. Harriet Young from the
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine will talk about a project to
develop methods and procedures for carrying out parallel and combined
analyses of these three studies. An exemplar research project is used to
analyse the association between self-reported health and long-term illness in
the 2001 census and subsequent mortality in all three studies. Here, she will
present the results of this research to date.

This workshop will include an introduction to the data services offered by
Census.ac.uk and is aimed at those studying or working in the UK higher and
further education sector, but is not limited to those already registered to use
the census.

The workshop is free to attend and includes lunch and refreshments. However
travel and accommodation costs will need to be met by the participants.

International Conference, 17-19 September 2009

Training Workshop, 12-16 September 2009    

University of St Andrews – Organised by the Scottish Health Informatics Programme (SHIP)

International Conference

In 2007 SHIP hosted the first ‘Exploiting Existing Data for Health Research’ conference at the University of St Andrews.  Designed  for researchers and practitioners interested in record linkage and the use of routine health data in their research, this three-day conference attracted over 70 papers and 120 participants from across the world including New Zealand, Australia, the  United States, Canada, and many countries in Europe.  Following funding from the Wellcome Trust, through the Scottish Health  Informatics Programme (SHIP), we are pleased that this will become a biennial event.

This 3-day inter-disciplinary conference  will gather together an international group of researchers who have expertise in the linkage and use of administrative or routine  data for health research or health care improvement.  Among others it will appeal to health researchers, including public health  professionals, policy analysts, health planners, and those working in health technology assessment, as well as those working in  health-related disciplines, such as health economics, population scientists and demographers.�
More information: http://www.lscs.ac.uk/SHIP_2009-1.pdf

We invite abstracts to be submitted by Monday 1st June 2009 on one of five themes:
1.   The value of record linkage in health research
The use of linked data is commonplace in health research. This theme will include papers based on one-off and general-purpose studies which demonstrate the range of research benefits that result from record linkage.

2.   Record linkage for health care improvement

Linked datasets are also vital to the improvement of health care services.  This theme will include papers covering a range  of themes including linkage to support health surveillance, health needs assessment, patient safety and quality improvement  activities, performance assessment and accountability.
 

3.   Longitudinal record linkage

Of particular research value are longitudinal studies which track information about individuals or organisations through time,  providing the opportunity to examine how different characteristics influence one another sequentially.  This session will  include papers that address the particular strengths of longitudinal data collection.
 

4.   The methodological challenges of record linkage

This theme will include papers on state-of-the-art techniques for record linkage.  Techniques might include methods for  record linkage, disclosure control, data management and analysis of linked data.  �
 

5.   Confidentiality, disclosure and ethical issues

The linkage of potentially sensitive data for health research and health care improvement raises various ethical issues.  This  theme will include papers that evaluate, for example, the public perception of record linkage, or advance the debate about  balancing people’s right to privacy and the public benefits of linked data for health research.

Training Workshop

Prior to the conference, we will be hosting a five-day training session on analysing linked health data (12-16 September 2009).  This  course will be led by Professor D’Arcy Holman who is based at the School of Population Health, University of  Western Australia.  He  is a leading figure in the field of linked health data and he will be presenting one of the keynote lectures at the conference which follows  immediately after this workshop.  Topics will include: 

 ‧  Using linkable registry data in health services research 

‧  Measuring health services utilisation

‧  Characterising clinical populations using linkable registry data                                  

‧  Evaluating health services outcome

‧  Theory and practice of risk adjustment in health services research

This highly topical seminar will explore public and professional perceptions of sensitive data and consider the implications for legislators and surveys and data analysis.  It will also provide a unique opportunity to hear the views of respondents concerning their involvement in long-term research which includes the collection of sensitive data.

The Centre for Longitudinal Studies recently asked an independent research agency, the British Market Research Bureau, to explore how the public understand and define sensitive information.  The speakers will draw on this and other recent research which has gathered data on these and related issues from a number of sources, including: the British public; privacy and data protection experts from a range of countries and disciplines; bloggers; and the subjects of a continuing longitudinal study.

Additional information and a booking form can be found at: http://www.cls.ioe.ac.uk/sensitivedata