Actions to address health inequity and strateigies to reduce inequities of specific groups

What are strategies to reduce inequities of specific groups?

Mediating

Advocating

Enabling

What is mediating?

Mediating is the process of coordinating action across different secotrs - government, health, community and private - to improve health outcomes for all

What does mediating do?

• Brings together stakeholders with differing views

• Aims to reduce conflict and create shared solutions

• Often involves partnership or community forums

What are examples of mediating?

Collaborating between schools, policies, youth centres to address anti-social behaviour or vaping

Health departments working with local councils and food supliers to improve healthy food in rural areas

Creating cross-sector agreements to provide mobile health services after a bushfire

What is enabling?

Focuses on achieving health equity by giving people the opportunity to develop personal skills and take control over the factors that influence their health

What does enabling do?

Empowers individulas and communities

involves health education, skill development and access to resources

Supports people in making healthy choices

What are examples of enabling?

Providing free culturally appropriate sexual health education in remote aboriginal communities

Running mental health literacy workshops for FIFO workers to build self awareness andhelp seeking behavours

Offering nutrition and cooking programs for low income families

What is advocating?

taking political or social aciton to create supportive environments and improve health outcomes for disadvantaged groups

What does advocating do?

Gives a voice to individuals or groups who face inequities

Includes lobbying, awareness campaigns, influencing policy

Focuses on equity and social justice

What are examples of advocating

Launching a campaign to extend free mental health sessions for regional youth under medicare

lobbying for safe housing and socila support for peoplee xperiencing homelessness

Public health organisations pushing for stricter laws on alcohol advertising near schools

What are actions to address health inequity?

Improving access to healthcare

Improving health literacy

Ottowa Charter action areas

What is improving access to healthcare?

Ensuring that all individuals, regardless of location, income, culture or ability, can obtain appropriate and timely healthcare

What are examples of improving access to healthcare?

• Telehealth services for rural community

• Mobile breast screening units for remote WA towns

• bulk billing clinics in low income areas

How does improving access to healthcare reduce health inequity?

Helps target geographic and financial barriers

Targets groups that typically experience lower service availability or affordability

Improves early detection and management of disease

What is improving health literacy?

Improving people’s ability to access, understand and use health information to make informed decisions about their health

What are examples of improving health literacy?

Translated resources for CALD communities

Plain english signage and brochures in hospitals

youth focused mental health apps and websites like headspace

How does improving health literacy reduce health inequity?

Empowers individuals ot manage their own health

improves navigation of health system

especially supports people with low education, language barriers, complex needs

What are the 5 ottowa charter action areas?

Build healthy public policy

Create supportive environments

Strengthen community action

Developing personal skills

Reorienting health services

How do the ottowa charter action areas reduce health inequity?

Encourage structural and community-wide changes

• Address multiple determinants of health

• Are applied specifically to vulnerable groups (e.g. ATSI, rural, CALD, youth)

What is Building healthy public policy?

Involves advocating for, and establishing health as priorities at all levels and sectors (such as national legislation like laws and taxation and organisational policies and procedures)

What are examples of building healthy public policy?

Drink driving laws

• Legislation to ban smoking in public places, workplaces, pubs and clubs

• Increased taxation on tobacco

• Reduced taxes on low-alcohol beer

• Laws around the compulsory wearing of bicycle helmets

• Anti-bullying policies in schools

• Regulations around nutrition content on food labels

• Occupational Health and Safety Legislation

What is create supportive environments?

acknowledges the interconnected.ness between people and their environment and that people, communities and their environment need to be cared for and protected

What are examples of creating supportive environments?

Programs for new parents in Maternal and Child Health Centres 

•Bike paths and bike lanes on roads 

•Provision and sale of healthy food and drink in school canteens 

•Safe children’s playgrounds and shaded areas for children 

•Inclusive sporting rounds, e.g. Indigenous round

•Public workout areas, sporting and playing fields 

•Free phone services, such as Quit, Cancer Helpline 

What is strengthen community action?

Involves engaging community resources adn strengthening competencies, collaboration and participation.

This may include empowerment of communities to enable them to take owndership adn control of their health

What are examples of strengthening community action?

Neighbourhood watch programs 

•Developing a whole-school approach to drug education 

•Mum ‘n’ bubs groups 

•Driver Reviver rest stations 

•Alcohol-free events for young people 

•Local community programs, such as walking groups 

•Tree planting to provide shade in local areas 

What is reorienting health services?

Advocates for the health care system that prioritises health and focuses on universal access. 

This is acknowledged as the responsibility of individuals, the community, health professionals, health service institutions and governments.

•Reorienting health services also includes a focus on research, professional education, and training.

What are examples of reorienting health services?

General practitioners incorporating advice on nutrition and physical activity when treating overweight or obese patients 

•Health promotion officers developing and coordinating preventative health programs 

•Police working in schools to support road safety education

•Yearly Medicare-funded health checks, such as a 45-year-old Health Check

•National breast and cervical cancer screening programs and policies 

•National HPV, hepatitis B vaccination programs and policies

What is developing personal skills?

Developing personal skills aims to support personal and social development through providing information, education for health and enhancing life skills.

What are examples of developing personal skills?

Health education programs in schools 

•Teaching children sun-safe behaviours 

•Working with young people to develop responsible drinking behaviours 

•Information brochures in medical centres 

•Online learning programs 

•Distribution of accurate information via mass media