Legislative Requirements for all Municipal Public Health and Well Being Plans Victorian Public Health and Wellbeing Plan 2015 – 2019. Section 26(3) of the Public Health and Wellbeing Act 2008 requires that in preparing a municipal public health and wellbeing plan, a council must have regard to the State Public Health and Wellbeing Plan. The Victorian Public Health and Wellbeing Plan (VPHWP) 2015 – 2019 provides the basis for a comprehensive prevention system, and as such is the framework within which funding and partnership opportunities are facilitated.
Assessment Task One:
Socioeconomic disadvantage is the greatest cause of health inequality for all population groups and there is a clear social gradient for most preventable conditions and risk factors. In addition:
Many public health problems have complex and multiple causes. It is therefore important to see health problems in the context of the total system of which they are part, and consider the interactions and relationships among the elements that characterise the entire system.
(Department of Health and Human Services (2015, p. 4)
In this assessment task you will draw on the Victorian Public Health and Well Being Plan 2015-19 to explore the inequalities in health and wellbeing, and the determinants that contribute to these inequalities.
1. Introduction: You will need to provide a description that clearly outlines the focus and context for your topic and a brief overview of the areas to be covered.
2. Choose ONE significant health issue as identified in the Victorian Public Health and Well Being Plan 2015-19. (Refer to p. 17: tobacco use; obesity; alcohol and drug use; mental health; violence and injury; sexual and reproductive health).
a) Describe the significance of the health issue (for example, tobacco use) and include prevalence, severity, impact, costs (individual, social, economic), and trends over time etc. You will briefly describe the extent of this health issue commencing at a global level followed by data for Australia and then Victoria. You will use a range of reputable references including specialised agencies (such as WHO) government reports; Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) as well as peer reviewed academic journals. You are also able to refer to the information in the Victorian Public Health and Wellbeing Plan 2015-2019 as well as the Health and wellbeing status of Victoria(companion document), but these must be in addition to other references used for this section.
According to the Victorian Public Health and Well Being Plan 2015-19, (Department of Health and Human Services (2015, p. 44), local government has a key role in leading improvements in health and wellbeing for the local community.
3. Refer to ONE Municipal Public Health and Wellbeing Plan (MPHWP) from the listed options: City of Mildura, City of Geelong, City of La Trobe, City of Whittlesea, City of Knox.
a) Locate one population group most impacted by your chosen health issue (for example, women, indigenous, youth, low socio-economic status groups etc.)
b) Explore the determinants (social, cultural, political, economic, environmental etc.) of this health issue for your identified population group. What are the risk factors underlying this issue? (For example, what are the determinants of tobacco use for low socio-economic status groups?).
For this part you need to identify and explore a range of factors that are linked to the issue. You need to draw on the various models and frameworks for the determinants of health we have covered in the unit. This section needs to be mapped using a clearly labelled diagram (such as the Iceberg model). Major contributing factors (either proximal or distal) need to be substantiated by academic references.
4. Referring to your chosen health issue (for example, tobacco use):
a) Locate ONE strategy or action that your MPHWP has identified to address the health issue (For example, the Mildura Rural City Council (MRCC 2013, p. 27) identified an action to address smoking which involves developing and implementing strategies to enable community groups to run smoke free sporting and recreational events.
b) Using a contrasting colour/font, map this action onto your diagram (3b. above). Provide a referenced paragraph on how the action links to your documented determinants of health.
5. The Victorian Public Health and Well Being Plan 2015-19 (Department of Health and Human Services (2015 p. 43-52), emphasizes improving health and wellbeing via a range of public health approaches, or “Platforms for Change”. These are: supporting healthy and sustainable environments; place based-approaches and; people-centredapproaches.
a) Referring to your identified MPHWP action/strategy addressing your specified health issue, identify the “Platform for Change” where you would locate your action/strategy. Provide an explanation for your choice.
6. Conclusion: What summary statements can you make about inequalities in health and the identification of the complex and multiple causes of (and solutions for) a particular health concern and a specific population group?
7. Presentation/grammar/referencing.