Constituency profiles: introduction

The 2004 Constituency Health and Well-being Profiles were produced by NHS Health Scotland in partnership with ISD Scotland and Communities Scotland.

They build on an earlier set of profiles produced by the then Public Health Institute of Scotland (PHIS) in 2001, but incorporate a number of improvements including an expanded set of indicators (over 80 in all), more up-to-date data and, crucially, presentation of changes over time in the measures used. The first constituency profiles were an attempt to focus the attention of politicians and planners on health rather than disease, and to highlight the fact that many factors other than medical care influence the health of communities and individuals.

The profiles show that while Scotland's health overall is improving gradually, a persistent health gap exists between affluent and deprived communities and, in some cases, this health gap is widening.

We hope that the profiles will help to:

• highlight trends in key indicators
• draw attention to health inequalities
• make key health information accessible to politicians, policy makers, planners and constituents.

In addition to the constituency profiles two other relevant documents have been created:

• an All Scotland(491Kb) profile, which highlights the overall health position of Scotland's population
• a document providing Notes, Definitions, Sources & Caveats(493Kb) on the data in the profiles.

Please use the left-hand menu to access the constituency profile(s) you are interested in. These are arranged by region of Scotland and are available to download as pdf files ().

If you would like more information about the data and trends contained in the profiles, please contact either David Walsh or Bruce Whyte.