Shared measures of success
Public health is everyone’s business!
Most functions across local council have a role to play, embedding public health in built environments.
Health for Every Heart is the Heart Foundation’s 25-year vision to 2050. Goal 2 (of 4): is to “create environments and systems that enable healthy behaviours”. This is fundamental to preventive health.
It’s well established that an individual’s health profile is impacted by the postcode where they live. Local neighbourhoods where we live, work and play are a key social determinant of health.
Research shows that people who live in walkable neighbourhoods are 58% more likely to have a healthy cardiovascular health profile than those who live in areas where walking is unsafe, inconvenient or difficult.
(1)
Further research shows that people living in walkable environments are 1.5 times more likely to get enough physical activity compared to those living in areas where walking is unsafe, inconvenient or difficult.
(2)
Embedding public health into built environment outcomes requires a holistic, systems-based approach that puts community health and wellbeing front and centre in planning and design outcomes.
This approach has myriad benefits across council, practitioners, stakeholders, business owners and local communities.
If you consider ‘why’ you do your job, why it’s important, your purpose in fronting up to work each day; - no matter what your role is, it’s likely this will relate back to doing something that achieves a community good – that services your local community and improves their quality of life, health, wellbeing and other outcomes.
In this context it’s no surprise that, increasingly, local council vision, and that of state and federal governments is tied to preventive health outcomes through community health and wellbeing objectives.
Planning, funding, design, advocacy and education are all needed to make it happen.
Aligning a common purpose and shared measures of success for community health and wellbeing is a powerful way to streamline business cases and budget bids, advocacy for increased funding and policy priority and decision maker support.
Adopting a common language around public health at the centre of work plans, projects and policies can help make it a reality.
Our evidence-based public health lens can help with:
- Facilitating better decision making
- Explaining benefits of healthy urban design internally and externally and enhancing collaboration
- providing a narrative and message that resonates
Three key avenues through which the Healthy Active by Design digital toolkit makes it easier for you to do your job are:
- the provision of evidence
- ways to gain community support and
- influencing change with decision makers.
References:
(1). Makram O., Favourable Neighbourhood Walkability is Associated with Lower Burden of Cardiovascular Risk Factors Among Patients Within an integrated Health System. Science Direct. 2023;48(6)doi: 10.1016/j.cpcardiol.2023.101642
(2). Wang, M., et. Al., 2022, ‘Higher walkability associated with increased physical activity and reduced obesity among United States adults’, published in Obesity – A Research Journal, 12 Dec 2022, Vol 31 Issue 2, pp 663-564