Yes, data can produce better policy - but it's no substitute for real-world experience

In a recent article, Anna Matheson, Associate Professor discusses the limitations of 'data-driven’ policies and highlights successful initiatives and approaches to achieve ‘change from the ground up’.

While data can be useful, it’s not neutral. There are biases and blind spots in the systems that produce the data. Worse, data often lacks the depth, context and responsiveness needed to drive real-world change.

The real questions are about who decides which data matter, how it’s interpreted – and what the change based on the data might look like.

Data-driven approaches to disease prevention can fall short. While governments might rely on obesity rates or physical activity levels to shape interventions, these blunt measurements fail to capture the deeper social and economic factors that affect health. Too often, strategies target individual behaviours, but we know local conditions including what financial and community resources are available, matter much more. 

Healthy Families NZ is highlighted as an example of change from the ground up. With teams in ten communities around the country, it works to create local change to improve health.

Instead of simply telling people to eat better and exercise more, the initiative has supported community action to reshape local environments so healthier choices become easier to make.

Data will always have an important role to play in shaping policy, but this requires a broader perspective. Data offers a tool for communities, not a substitute for their leadership and voice. Real system change happens when we fundamentally rethink how change happens, and who leads that change in the first place. Read the full article here at NZ Doctor 

Thanks to Anna Matheson, Associate Professor, Public Health and Policy, Te Herenga Waka Victoria University of Wellington.