Ireland and Northern Ireland’s Population Health Observatory (INIsPHO) works closely with its partners - those involved in the production and dissemination of health intelligence - as well as others who use this intelligence in their efforts to improve health and reduce inequalities.

Some stakeholders have broad remits such as:  

• the Department of Health and Children (DOHC) in Ireland and the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety (DHSSPS) in Northern Ireland;
• information agencies such as the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) in Ireland and the equivalent agency in Northern Ireland;
• the Health Service Executive (HSE) in Ireland and the health and social services boards in Northern Ireland;
• health and social service providers at the primary, secondary and tertiary level;
• lead statistical agencies, ie the Central Statistics Office (CSO) in Ireland and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA);
• lead research agencies, ie the Health Research Board (HRB) in Ireland and the Health and Social Care Research & Development Office for Northern Ireland;
• academic departments and other established research organisations such as the Recognised Research Groups (RRGs) in Northern Ireland;
• international agencies such as the European Commission, the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

Other stakeholders have more specialised remits that cover:

•  particular conditions (such as the cancer registries, communicable disease surveillance units, cardiovascular information systems and other disease registries and systems);
• particular geographical areas such as the Investing for Health (IfH) partnerships and the Health Action Zones (HAZs) in Northern Ireland, the community development boards in Ireland and local government;
• particular population groups such as Travellers support groups and child health reference centres.

The general public, community and voluntary sector organisations, media, politicians, and researchers and evaluators are also stakeholders.

Partner support
The Observatory supports its partners by:

•  more widely disseminating and promoting their outputs;
• linking their outputs to other population health work;
• supporting secondary analyses of data;
• promoting them in other ways such as providing opportunities to showcase their work;
• supporting professional meetings and other opportunities for knowledge sharing and collaborative work.

Users have different needs. They require different types of information on different topics, and have different capacities to access, analyse or interpret, and use information. The Observatory seeks to help meet these varying needs.

Strong links
In order to work collaboratively with its partners and other stakeholders, the Observatory encourages flexible working arrangements such as joint appointments, secondments, placements and consultancies.

In light of the rapid changes occurring in both Ireland and Northern Ireland, it is vital from the outset that the Observatory maintains strong links to emerging organisations and structures.