Health information makes a critical contribution to the delivery of effective health services and the development of healthy public policy. However, health analysts often work without vital support. The Health Analysts’ Special Interest Group has been formed to support the health analysts community by providing opportunities to meet colleagues, share practical tools and advice, and support professional development.

The Health Analysts SIG is part of the All-Ireland CHAIN which is co-sponsored by the Institute of Public Health in Ireland and the Health Intelligence directorate of the Health Service Executive.

CHAIN (Contact, Help, Advice and Information Network) is an online network for people working in health and social care. CHAIN is both multi-professional and cross-organisational and is based around specific areas of interest. This gives people a simple and informal way of contacting each other to exchange ideas and share knowledge.

How to become a member of the Health Analysts' Special Interest Group

To become a member of the Health Analysts’ SIG, join CHAIN on http://chain.ulcc.ac.uk/chain/join.html. Select the CHAIN component you would like to join. Fill in your personal details and under the sub-groups heading you will find the “Quality Improvement” cross-cutting subgroup. Beneath this the list of special interest groups are listed so you can select Health Analysts.

The Health Analysts SIG will be facilitated by Lorraine Fahy who is currently a Research Analyst in Ireland and Northern Ireland’s Population Health Observatory (INIsPHO) at the Institute Of Public Health in Ireland.