Area Profiling | Background

The production of area profile reports, a process known as ‘area profiling’, is widespread in both public and private sectors to address the need of users to understand the character of a specific area or set of areas. Area Profiles bring together relevant information and data about an area of interest and present it in a structured report comprising a mix of text, maps, charts and tables. The profiled area is often contrasted with geographic or statistical neighbours. In North America the outputs of this process tend to be referred to as ‘State Profiles’, ‘City profiles’, ‘County Profiles’, ‘Community Profiles’ or ‘Neighborhood Profiles’. The processes involved and the type of outputs tend to share many commonalities.

InstantAtlas solutions are used widely to address the needs of organisations for area-based reporting. Two business functions in particular, area profiling and performance reporting, are the focus for a significant number of InstantAtlas applications. Our Performance Reporting page provides more details on this area. The use of area profile reporting to support performance monitoring and the trend away from organisational performance measures towards measuring performance outcomes means these areas now have considerable overlap.

The context in the UK

The production of area profile reports is widespread particularly for describing issues around quality of life and service provision. A significant proportion of public agencies will develop area profiles for different audiences.

The UK Audit Commission suggests that area profiling can help to support a number of objectives:

• Updating your sustainable community strategy or developing a local area agreement;
• Setting a baseline and monitoring progress on priorities;
• Preparing for an assessment or inspection;
• Providing information on quality of life and local services for the general public;
• Developing a better understanding of the contributions of particular sectors; or
• Understanding differences in quality of life for particular communities of interest, such as children and young people, those with disabilities or people living in rural areas. We have provided tools for older people and BME citizen groups.

Source: Audit Commission Area Profiles

http://www.areaprofiles.audit-commission.gov.uk

Community Health Profiles for England

(click on image to view)

Scale: National (England)

Purpose: The Association of Public Health Observatories was commissioned by the UK Department of Health in 2005 to produce Health Profiles. Health Profiles provide a snapshot of health for each local council in England using key health indicators, which enables comparison locally, regionally and over time.

• To provide a consistent, concise, comparable and balanced overview of the population’s health that informs local needs assessment, policy, planning, performance management, surveillance and practice.
• To be a distillate of the absolutely key, most useful (currently available) indicators (with a reference to new data/indicators and unavailable data/indicators).
• To be primarily of use to joint efforts between local government and the health service to improve health and reduce health inequalities, but ultimately to empower the wider community.

Health Profiles Interactive, based on InstantAtlas technology, is a service new to Health Profiles 2008. It was designed to allow users to explore indicators and areas for comparison through a map or list in an intuitive visual interface including the Health Profiles spine chart format.

"Health Profiles provide a snapshot of health for each local council in England using key health indicators, which enables comparison locally, regionally and over time. We leveraged the power of Instant Atlas Server to display this complex data in an intuitive visual interface which would be equally useable by analysts, public health professionals and the public alike. Geowise could not have been more professional or cooperative in helping us achieve our vision on time and on budget." Gary Bates, Senior Applications

What is the Area Profile Template?

The Area Profile template combines a single map, table, spine chart and bar chart for data display. Indicators in the spine chart are arranged vertically in a scrollable list. This chart enables at a glance analysis across a range of indicators for a selected area. It makes the comparison of profiles for different areas quick and easy.

InstantAtlas Template: Area Profile 

Area Profile Template Overview