4.6 Run scenarios

Scenarios can be used to predict the health outcomes when unhealthy behaviours:

  • are modified in the population: Intervention, or
  • were never present in the population: health behaviour attribution

Scenarios can be used to inform potential health policies or programs.

4.6.1 Intervention scenarios

Interventions provide you with the ability to customize the scenarios. For example you can answer the questions:

  • what if we only had 15% of the population smoked rather then the current 20%?
  • what if everyone increased their physical activity by 10%?
  • what if everyone ate 4 fruit and vegetable servings each day?
  • what if everyone drank 2 fewer drinks per week?

These intervention scenarios allow you to predict and compare the effectiveness of policies.

There are 3 types of intervention scenarios that you can select:

  • Absolute: each individual in the population changes their health behaviour by a value of x.
  • Relative: each individual in the population changes their health behaviour by a ratio of y.
  • Target: each individual in the population has a set value of z.

More information on the specifics of each type of intervention scenario and how they are calculated can be found in key concepts - “Scenarios: Interventions”.

Steps

  1. Click the toggle button beside “Scenario”

  1. Select “Intervention” from the “Scenario Type” menu.

  1. Select the “Type” of intervention you want beside your target health behaviour.
  • A description of each intervention scenario and how they are calculated can be found in key concepts - “Scenarios: Interventions”

  1. Type or use the arrow keys to get the value you want.

Multiple health behaviour interventions can be selected for a single calculation.

4.6.2 Health behaviour attribution scenarios

Health behaviour attribution scenarios provide you with the best case scenario for the population. For example:

  • what if no one in the population ever smoked?
  • what if everyone in the population met their recommended physical activity levels (3.00 METs/week)?

More information on health behaviour attribution calculations and how they are calculated can be found in key concepts](#keyconcepts) - “Scenarios: Health behaviour attribution”.

Steps

  1. Click the toggle button beside “Scenario”

  1. Select “Intervention” from the “Scenario Type” menu.

  1. Check the box beside the intervention you want to do.

Multiple health behaviours can be selected for a single calculation.