Open AccessAn analysis of local government health policy against state priorities and a social determinants framework
Author(s) -
Browne Geoffrey R.,
Davern Melanie T.,
GilesCorti Billie
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
australian and new zealand journal of public health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.946
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1753-6405
pISSN - 1326-0200
DOI - 10.1111/1753-6405.12463
Subject(s) - health promotion , health policy , public health , local government , social determinants of health , state (computer science) , government (linguistics) , cohesion (chemistry) , public relations , political science , public administration , medicine , nursing , linguistics , philosophy , chemistry , organic chemistry , algorithm , computer science
Objective : Victorian local governments are required to develop Municipal Public Health and Wellbeing Plans that incorporate state‐level health planning priorities and address the social determinants of health. This paper describes a novel method for evaluating councils' performance against these requirements. Methods : Deductive content analysis was used to categorise all actions in 14 local government MPHWPs against Victorian state priorities as well as against social determinants of health policy areas. Results : More than 1,000 actions were identified. However, fewer than half directly addressed a state priority, with many actions addressing policy areas known to be broader determinants of health. In particular, there was a marked focus on leisure and culture, and on building social cohesion through changes to living and working conditions. Conclusions : Councils are working beyond state priorities and there was a clear emphasis on addressing the diverse upstream ‘causes of the causes’ of health, rather than health promotion behaviour change programs. Implications : The approach for data analysis and presentation provides a useful method for rapid appraisal of health and wellbeing actions relative to councils', and the State's, responsibility and efficacy in public health.