Process and Results from the NHANES Forum U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Center for Health Statistics

NHANES Forum – July 30, 1996 DHANES Forum – June 10, 2003 “Achieving excellence in health examination statistics” NHANES Forum – September 11-12, 2003 “Taking NHANES into the Future” NHANES Forums

Objectives To obtain wide input on the content and operation of the NHANES in terms of emerging science and public health issues To learn the critical public health and policy needs that should be addressed by NHANES To provide guidance on setting priorities in conducting the survey and processing the data September NHANES Forum

To consider the feasibility and importance of including components of community HANES or longitudinal follow-up of previous years’ samples in outlying years Raise the visibility of NHANES and the Integrated nature of the new NHANES September NHANES Forum

Participants create and manage their own agenda of parallel working sessions around a central theme of strategic importance. Issues that are most important to the participants are raised. All of the most important ideas, discussion, data, recommendations, conclusions, questions for further study, and plans for immediate action can be made available to an entire organization or community within days of the event. Open Space (OS) Technology

Almost 100 participants Public Private Non-profit Academic institutional Other stakeholders September NHANES Forum

28 sessions Headlines and action items for each session Forum sessions on NHANES website September NHANES Forum Highlights

What didn’t get brought up and discussed: More referral assessments post-exam, like PSA Health economics analysis High priority topics, such as lab, infectious diseases Sample design issues: oversampling, thematic vs. current HANES Cost/benefit indicators September NHANES Forum Highlights

Reaction positive (93%) In regard to NHANES, Forum participants: Increased their knowledge of NHANES; what was being done and what was being planned Better understood the NCHS perspective Became more aware of availability of technical support Planned to have more positive communication and collaboration with NHANES staff September NHANES Forum Participant Feedback

Think outside the box regarding NHANES; brainstorm innovative methods and survey design ideas with colleagues and partners Inform public agencies about NHANES data and efforts to enhance coordination Work to promote importance of NHANES to policy makers Look for resources for state/community HANES September NHANES Forum Participant Feedback

In regard to OS Technology: Initial skepticism, but surprisingly effective Good for brainstorming; wouldn’t have been as effective if institute-directed issues had to be discussed Leveled the playing field in terms of people feeling comfortable sharing ideas Connections made with people with similar interests September NHANES Forum Participant Feedback

June 10 DHANES Forum NHANES Core Getting More Information from NHANES How do we better communicate our interests across the center? September Forum National Children’s Survey and overlap with NHANES Community HANES International collaboration and cooperation Diet attitude, knowledge, and behavior Linking NHANES data with other sources DHANES Follow-up on Action Items

NHANES web site OP96S058