[Health data at local and regional levels: what methods? What benefits for action?]

Health data can play a role in health promotion programs either to inform interventions or to raise awareness among health decision makers in their locality. Different tools are available to disseminate health data. Overviews present a snapshot of the social and health situation of a population. They can be carried out at different scales: regional, provincial, municipal or across borders, as was the case in the program ‘Générations en Santé’ [Generations in Health], which covered the French regions of Champagne-Ardenne, Picardie and Nord Pas-de-Calais; and the Belgian provinces of Luxembourg, Namur and Hainaut. The use of quantitative data encountered two obstacles: between-country comparability on the cross-border level and statistical fluctuation for small populations at the municipal level. Qualitative studies complement statistical data and refine one’s knowledge of a situation. They can also enable the inclusion of a participative process.