Mexico’s in-development SIESDE will consolidate and systematize Mexico’s information pertaining to aging in order to develop, co-ordinate and track targeted policy and other interventions for healthy aging.
The focus: Good policymaking requires understanding current conditions through data collection and synthesis. Mexico lacks an effective system for synthesizing the country’s multiple streams of public data on older adults in such a way as to develop data-driven and targeted public policies to support healthy aging.
How it works: Through a computer platform and the co-operation of multiple Mexican ministries, SIESDE will merge and systematize data streams primarily from the public information sources that are produced by Mexico’s Health Information Systems and the National System of Statistical and Geographic Information. Synthesized data and applied statistics will be used to achieve goals such as detecting gaps, harmonizing and standardizing concepts and methodologies, consolidating information, broadening the spectrum of available statistics, and producing relevant, quality and timely information for the development of a long-term care system in Mexico. Special attention will be paid to the differential impacts of local socioeconomic conditions and health resource availability. The system will also establish a health information network on healthy aging that will integrate the federal, state and municipal bodies in Mexico to link knowledge creation, decision-making and solution development—to design, monitor and evaluate evidence-based public policies.
Enabling environment: A variety of government, academic and health systems experts are collaborating to develop SIESDE, with the support of government ministries—primarily Mexico’s National Geriatrics Institute, the Institute of Geography of the National Autonomous University of Mexico, the University of Colima, and the Center of Excellence and Innovation at Christus Health International. Buy-in from politicians and policymakers has facilitated the system’s development, and funding has been secured for developing SIESDE. While SIESDE has not yet been completed, the model is likely to be sustainable given funding and ongoing support. This manner of integrated national information system on healthy aging is replicable where the appropriate national data and expertise are available. The model could be useful in countries that need to improve their data synthesis, and it can be adapted based on the local infrastructure, context and available data.
Impact: N/A (currently in development)