Life Expectancy
Healthy People
Mortality
Healthy Life Expectancy
Quality of Life
Disease-Free Years
Population Health
Introduction
Life expectancy at birth is the average number of years a baby born in each time period can expect to live. Nationally, life expectancy has been increasing since 1981 but there was a slowdown in improvement year on year for the decade up to 20181. Life expectancy is influenced by wider determinants such as access to good quality health and social care and behavioural change. In Derbyshire, the main causes of death are cancer, and liver, respiratory and circulatory disease2. Prevention (through wider determinants), early detection, and access to effective treatment could reduce mortality from these causes, increasing life expectancy.
Increasing life expectancy but not healthy life expectancy results in more years spent in poor health, leading to an increase in the numbers of older people requiring care. Healthy life expectancy is the number of years a person can expect to live in good health, based on contemporary mortality rates and prevalence of self-reported good health3. It is a key measure to assess the degree to which health is improving and disparities are narrowing.
Reducing the gap between life expectancy and healthy life expectancy would reduce the burden on social care and health services. Increasing healthy life expectancy can be achieved through prevention of ill health.
People living in deprived areas have lower life expectancy and healthy life expectancy than the least deprived, spending more years of their life in poor health. Therefore, there is most potential for reducing inequalities by rebalancing resources in favour of prevention of ill health in the most deprived communities rather than treatment for the least deprived communities.
Why is it important to Population Health?
All population health work aims to improve the overarching indicators of life expectancy and healthy life expectancy. Not only is the aim to increase both indicators, but to reduce the gap between them and to reduce inequalities.
Reducing the years of life spent in poor health decreases the burden on the health and social care system. Targeting improvements at populations with the worst outcomes, such as deprived communities, is the most effective way to increase healthy life expectancy.
Population Health and Ageing: Increasing life expectancy but not healthy life expectancy increases the number of older people living in poor health, resulting in increased demand on health and social care services.
Economic Implications: Increasing healthy life expectancy has substantial economic implications for individuals, families, and wider society. Spending more years of life in good health reduces the caring responsibilities for families and reduces the dependency ratio. Population health interventions aimed at preventing ill health can reduce healthcare costs and financial burdens on individuals and families.
Quality of Life: Healthy life expectancy is important to population health because, by definition, increasing healthy life expectancy increases an individual’s quality of life as they spend less of their life in poor health.
Prevention and Promotion: Preventing ill health and reducing preventable mortality can be achieved through evidence-informed interventions. Population health has an essential role in promoting and increasing good health by working with communities and the wider health system to address the wider determinants of health.
The Derbyshire Population Health Approach
The Derbyshire Population Health Approach focuses on prevention, population health, evidence-informed practices, causes, and collaboration. It emphasises proactive measures to prevent health issues, tailors interventions to specific populations, incorporates evidence-informed practices, addresses underlying causes, and promotes collaboration for effective action.
When considering the topic of life expectancy within The Derbyshire Population Health Approach:
Preventing poor health is key to increasing healthy life expectancy. Addressing wider determinants such as levels of deprivation, access to services, and health-harming and health-promoting behaviours could help to increase both life expectancy and healthy life expectancy.
By taking a population-centred approach, professionals can identify populations with the worst outcomes, such as deprived communities, and target interventions to address the needs of these populations, improving life expectancy and healthy life expectancy.
Evidence-informed practice is key to increasing healthy life expectancy and reducing inequalities. Evidence helps professionals to identify populations in need, identify effective interventions, and evaluate their impact.
Understanding and addressing the causes of poor health and mortality are key to increasing life expectancy and healthy life expectancy. This includes wider determinants of health such as levels of deprivation, access to services, and health-harming behaviours like smoking.
Collaboration across the health and social care sector is essential for improving healthy life expectancy. Collaboration with partners enables coordinated strategies to be developed through sharing knowledge and resources.
Latest Derbyshire Data
Latest data shows that in 2022 in Derbyshire life expectancy was 79.1 for males and 82.4 for females. For healthy life expectancy, the latest Derbyshire data shows that in 2018 - 20 healthy life expectancy was 61.5 for males and 62.6 for females.
The charts below show the latest data for life expectancy in Derbyshire and its districts/boroughs compared to England.
Trend Data
The following charts show life expectancy over time in Derbyshire by district and sex (compared to England)
Derbyshire Quilt
Life Expectancy and Healthy Life Expectancy
The charts below show life expectancy and healthy life expectancy in Derbyshire from 2009-11 by sex.
Healthy Life Expectancy by Deprivation
The following chart shows healthy life expectancy by deprivation and sex in England as there is no data available locally.
Prevalence Maps of Derbyshire
The maps below illustrate Lower Super Output Areas (LSOAs) and Middle Super Output Areas (MSOAs) for Derbyshire. LSOAs and MSOAs are geographical divisions used for statistical purposes, allowing for more detailed analysis of local data. In these maps, you can explore various health indicators and data for Derbyshire, providing valuable insights into the area’s health and wellbeing.
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In the top right of the map, you’ll find the ‘Layer Control’ icon. This is an easy way to customise what you see on the map visualisation. Click the ‘Layer Control’ to choose which information is displayed on the map. Pick the indicator that interests you the most, and the map will transform accordingly. |
Further Analysis & Assessments
Derbyshire Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) involves a thorough examination of a specific health problem, exploring its causes, consequences, and underlying factors. It combines various data sources, collaboration with stakeholders, and rigorous analysis to generate insights for evidence-informed interventions and policy changes.
Coming soon…
More Information & Resources
Here is a list of useful resources and information related to life expectancy. These materials are meant to provide individuals, healthcare professionals, and communities with the knowledge and tools when considering life expectancy.
Contributors
Catie Peach, Knowledge and Intelligence Officer (Epidemiology), Knowledge and Intelligence Team