Final report - Integrated Land Management Bureau

Because of these limitations, the primary health indicators below are adopted from BC
Stats, which makes the data available at the smallest scales- the Local Health Area. The
secondary health indicators, “health behaviors,” are available only at the HSDA level.
In some reports, the theoretical foundation for the selection of these indicators is plainly
described. For other indicator sets, the research basis for the indicators is less clear.
Implications for Schedule C and G: Despite the range of health indicators available in
the literature and available from health agencies and organizations, there are few data that
are measured at the appropriate geographic scale on a regular basis for the North and
Central Coast. The BC Stats data are the only ones compiled on a regular basis at a small
enough scale to be useful on the North and Central Coast, but even those indicators have
limitations because of the small populations in the plan areas.
4.4.3 Education
All nine frameworks referred to education and/or human capital as key factors in human
well-being. Human capital refers to the knowledge, skills, competencies, and attributes of
individuals that facilitate the creation of personal, social and economic well-being. Many
authors such as Cote (2001), Luther and Wall (1998), and Parkins et al. (2004) discuss
human capital and a commitment to education as factors in well-being at the community
scale. Veenstra (2001) has linked educational attainment with individual health
indicators. Baum and Payea (2004) discuss the high correlations between education and
higher earnings, as well as lower unemployment, poverty rates, smoking rates,
incarceration rates, and levels of civic participation. They show that education has a high
social and economic return on investment for students from all racial and ethnic groups,
for both genders, and for those from all family backgrounds. Education results in higher
tax revenues and lesser demands on social support programs. The Public Health Agency
of Canada (PHAC, 2004) also found that health status improves with the level of
education.
Implications for Schedules C and G:
There are currently no indicators in Schedules C and G to measure education. Given the
importance of education in the literature as a factor linked to many other factors of HWB,
the addition of education-related indicators is recommended.
4.4.4 Economics
There is little debate in the literature that material and economic well-being is a key
factor in human well-being. All nine HWB frameworks included dimensions of
economics such as living standards, income, housing, and livelihood security. Some
indicators were measurable at an individual level, while others were measurable at a
community scale. As discussed above, the literature links economics with many other
factors, including social processes, health, and education in feedback loops that affect
each other.
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