Integrated Health Promotion

TOPIC: INTEGRATED HEALTH PROMOTION IN THE REAL WORLD

Purpose:

This Assessment Task invites you to demonstrate your understanding of the concepts of systems thinking and integrated health promotion, and to investigate and critically examine how these concepts are being applied in the real world to improve health.

Topic:

The World Health Organization's Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion (1986) sets out a vision for integrated health promotion. It proposes that five action areas and three strategies are useful for bringing about change to people, structures and environments, and in turn, health:

Action areas:
1. Build Healthy Public Policy
2. Create Supportive Environments
3. Strengthen Community Actions
4. Develop Personal Skills
5. Reorient Health Services

Strategies:
1. Enabling
2. Mediating
3. Advocating

The Victorian Department of Health (2008) identified seven guiding principles for its work in integrated health promotion. These drew on the action areas and strategies of the Ottawa Charter. (Attachment 2)

Both of these models embody systems thinking.

For this assessment task, you will choose a real world example of a health promotion initiative and critique it by referring to the Ottawa Charter model of integrated health promotion, and/or the Victorian Department of Health integrated health promotion model.

Approaching the task

1. Locate an example of health promotion. Choose an initiative that is of interest to you professionally and personally.

To locate your example, scan journal papers in Health Promotion International, Health Promotion Journal of Australia, Global Health Promotion or other high quality journals that present an description, evaluation or a critique of a health promotion initiative
OR

Locate a comprehensive report of a health promotion initiative by a government or non- government body (eg. VicHealth, National Heart Foundation, Parks Victoria).

2. Critique the example by referring to the Ottawa Charter model of integrated health promotion, and/or the Victorian Department of Health model. The question you need to answer is:

To what extent does this health promotion initiative reflect systems thinking and an integrated health promotion approach?

Presenting a critique:

Presenting a critique is not the same as simply describing something. Like an essay, a critique will:

- use a formal, academic communication style

- have a logical structure (ie. introduction, body, conclusion)

- take a critical stance on your topic

- include a brief summary of the work being critiqued - in this case, your example of a health promotion initiative.

Your conclusion could briefly re-state the key points identified during your critical analysis and your overall appraisal of the initiative in terms of its use of an integrated health promotion approach.

Format
You may communicate your critique using one of two formats: video OR written.

1. A 10-minute video

A video is an alternative to a written piece of work. At the minimum, please provide:

- A 10-minute video of you speaking to camera that features a concise audio commentary. Mobile phone technology can be used to capture this content. Ensure good audio quality, so that it is easy to understand your video (eg. do not speak too quickly, keep volume at a consistent level, minimise background noise, etc.)

- A reference list that is submitted with a cover sheet. For the reference list, use referencing style APA6 (refer to www.lib.latrobe.edu.au/referencing-tool/apa-6). For the coversheet, include: title and number of assessment task, date, your name, your ID number, your La Trobe email address, subject title and code.

You may also include on screen text that is on screen long enough to read easily and graphics that communicate key content.

2. A 1,500-word written report.

Report format with pages numbered and sub-headings signposting sections of your report. A brief introduction and conclusion.

1500 words, excluding references (10% above word limit is the maximum allowable). Marks will be deducted for reports that exceed the word limit: between 10-20% (5 marks); more than 20% (10 marks).

Times Roman font, 12 point, 1.5 line spacing

Referencing style APA6 (refer to www.lib.latrobe.edu.au/referencing-tool/apa-6)