Can administrative data save your life?

Good health is something we all need – but it doesn’t simply start and end with the body. Increasingly, we’re beginning to understand how different parts of our lives and circumstances can combine and interact to shape our health, including from before we’re even born. Economic circumstances, social inequalities and childhood experiences all have a role to play in public health.   Because administrative data contains a wealth of information about these different areas of our lives, it can be a valuable tool for research to help us understand and improve wellbeing. By linking this data together, we can build a better picture of how different aspects of public life affect our health.  In the first episode of series 2, co-hosts Shayda Kashef and Mark Green are joined by Helena Benes Matos da Silva. Helena is an epidemiologist working with the Nutrition Group at Cidacs, the Centre for Data and Knowledge Integrations for Health in Brazil. The conversation draws on her varied career to explore the complex human experiences underlying our health, and how data can shed light on these connections. Want to know more about administrative data? Visit: adruk.org. Read more about the work of Cidacs here: cidacs.bahia.fiocruz.br   Co-host Shayda Kashef mentions the ECHILD dataset; read more about the data and how to access it here: adruk.org/data-access/flagship-datasets/education-and-child-health-insights-from-linked-data-england Connecting Society is presented by Shayda Kashef and Mark Green, our producers are Eleanor Collard, Holly Greenland, Laura Mulvey and Shayda Kashef. This podcast is brought to you by ADR UK (Administrative Data Research UK), a partnership transforming public sector data into research insights and policy evidence to improve lives. We are an investment by the Economic and Social Research Council, part of UK Research and Innovation.