Data visualisations to monitor health in Norway

Abstract In Norway, data visualisations have been an important form of health reporting for a very long time, going back at least to Statistics Norway's mortality report 1831-1850, which included a shaded map. Social inequalities came up on the Norwegian public health agenda from the 1990s, inspired by the Black report and the Ottawa charter, with several publications that included maps and timelines. Since 2000, the interactive database NorHealth has presented timelines, maps and bar charts illustrating population health and underlying causes for national and regional decision-makers. Indicators on social inequality in health have always been included. The Public Health Profiles (annual from 2012) present health-related data from each municipality in an understandable form, while ongoing projects like Nabolagshelse (‘Neighbourhood health’) aim to add a sustainability perspective. Actual dashboards, defined as single-topic visual representations, have been less common, but after COVID-19, dashboards have been developed within many fields, including National Centre for Ageing and Health's Dementia map, Vestfold county's Sustainability dashboard and Statistics Norway's new visualisations using Tableau Public. The latter demonstrates i.e. social inequality in the use of health services. The Directorate of Health's National digitalisation monitor for the health and care services demonstrates the move towards computer literacy, with dashboards of electronic booking of GP appointments, use of e-prescriptions and production of e-donor cards. Norway's broad participation in JA PreventNCD will lead to more widespread information about how dashboards could be useful in the Norwegian context. The Ministry of Health has ordered a dashboard for the health of older adults (2025). Disclaimer: Contributions to this publication, such as conclusions or other content, made by employees of the Norwegian Directorate of Health, have not been processed within the organisation.