Let’s have a conversation about the language of health

Let’s have a conversation about the language of health

a conversation about health - where health starts - in our everyday lives

Let’s stop and have a serious look at what it is that really keeps us healthy or makes us sick.

And we’re not just talking about whether we did some exercise or if we quit smoking - we’re talking about the things that make up our neighbourhoods, communities, as well as a the bigger wider world – the factors that influence the choices we are able to make. Think about the things that you are exposed to in your everyday life – that might cause stress and make you more susceptible to ill health, or factors that keep stressors at bay and protect your health.

Let’s have a conversation about health – where health starts – in our everyday lives.

Health is influenced by lots of factors and we want to find out what Tasmanians from all walks of life have to say about health and its determinants.

This project is being run by the Social Determinants of Health Advocacy Network – Tasmania and is being undertaken by Miriam Vandenberg (Herzfeld) & Michael Bentley.

We’ll be running a series of focus groups in April 2015 and are looking for people willing to volunteer about two hours of their time to be involved.

If you would like to participate in this study please contact Miriam or Michael for more information:

socialdeterminantsofhealthtas@gmail.com

This project has ethics approval from the Tasmanian Social Sciences Human Research Ethics Committee.

Useful information with links relating to SDOH

Education and health: 

Higher levels of educational attainment are associated with improved health outcomes: http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/lookup/4704.0Chapter365Oct+2010

The Health Impacts of Education – a review: http://www.publichealth.ie/files/file/Health%20Impacts%20of%20Education.pdf

The Effect of Education on Health – Cross Country Evidence: http://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/working_papers/2011/RAND_WR864.pdf

What are the effects of education on health? MEASURING THE EFFECTS OF EDUCATION ON HEALTH AND CIVIC ENGAGEMENT: PROCEEDINGS OF THE COPENHAGEN SYMPOSIUM – © OECD 2006  https://www1.oecd.org/edu/innovation-education/37425753.pdf

The Effects of Education on Health (National Bureau of Economic Research): http://www.nber.org/digest/mar07/w12352.html

The Education Effect on Population Health: A Reassessment http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3188849/

Do you think the Australian public deserves to know what's at stake in the TPP - Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement?

CHETRE (Centre for Health Equity Training Research and Evaluation) has worked with a group of Australian academics and non-government organisations, interested in the health of the Australian population, to do a health impact assessment (HIA) on the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement negotiations.

The negotiations are finishing soon, but the public has yet to see the agreement and find out exactly what we risk trading away.

The HIA released today has shown the TPP could impact on the government's ability to introduce new health initiatives, like the plain packaging legislation. It could stop new food labelling laws, and keep medicines costing more for longer.

If you want to tell the government to release the text so we can find out what's in the TPP before it's too late click here .

Health literacy toolkit for low- and middle-income countries: series of information sheets to empower communities and strengthen health systems: Download this publication: click here.

Action on the SDOH: Views from inside the policy process https://www.academia.edu/10255617/Action_on_the_social_determinants_of_health_Views_from_inside_the_policy_process

The Social Determinants of Mental Health: An Overview and Call to Action

http://www.healio.com/psychiatry/journals/psycann/2014-1-44-1/%7B30463a3d-71ee-4477-9ad7-2181b7167260%7D/the-social-determinants-of-mental-health-an-overview-and-call-to-action

Defining a Population Mental Health Framework for Public Health: http://www.ncchpp.ca/docs/2014_SanteMentale_EN.pdf

Framework for healthy public policies favouring Mental Health: http://www.ncchpp.ca/docs/PPFSM_EN_Gabarit.pdf

Unexplained health inequality – is it unfair? click here

Implementing the Public Health Act in a local setting: Addressing the social inequities in health in a Norwegian municipality: https://bora.uib.no/handle/1956/8218

Healthy Cities Resources:

http://www.euro.who.int/en/health-topics/environment-and-health/urban-health/activities/healthy-cities/who-european-healthy-cities-network/what-is-a-healthy-city

http://www.euro.who.int/en/health-topics/environment-and-health/urban-health/publications

http://www.euro.who.int/en/health-topics/environment-and-health/urban-health/publications/2012/healthy-cities-tackle-the-social-determinants-of-inequities-in-health-a-framework-for-action

How to eradicate poverty: spend more on wages and strengthen unions: http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/feb/17/eradicate-poverty-strengthen-unions-confront-corporate-interests?CMP=share_btn_link

What is the People’s Health Movement?  What does it do?

Now available: 30 minute film from the Third People's Health Assembly (Cape Town, July 2012) is now online:  http://youtu.be/Kmm5Hj0HNWA

  

The Concepts and Principles of Health Equity: http://publicaciones.ops.org.ar/publicaciones/piezas%20comunicacionales/cursoDDS/cursoeng/Textos%20Completos/the%20concepts%20and%20principles%20of%20equity%20and%20health.pdf

Children of the Recession: The impact of the economic crisis on child well-being in rich countries:

http://www.unicef-irc.org/publications/series/16

Inequality: The Challenge of the Century: http://www.progressiveeconomy.eu/sites/default/files/Progressive_Economy-JOURNAL_issue2.pdf

Society at a glance –OECD Global Indicators

The seventh edition of Society at a Glance, the biennial OECD overview of social indicators, this report addresses the growing demand for quantitative evidence on social well-being and its trends. It updates some indicators included in the previous editions published since 2001 and introduces several new ones; in total: 25 indicators. It includes data for the 34 OECD Member countries and where available data for key partners (Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Russia and South Africa) and for other G20 countries (Argentina and Saudi Arabia). This report features a special chapter on the social impact of the recent crisis (Chapter 1) and provides a guide to help readers understand the structure of OECD social indicators (Chapter 2). All indicators are available as a web book and e-book on OECD iLibrary, as is the related database.

http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/social-issues-migration-health/society-at-a-glance-2014_soc_glance-2014-en;jsessionid=12dtah96ko8nn.x-oecd-live-02

SPECIAL ISSUE ON THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF CHILDREN’S HEALTH: http://journals.uvic.ca/index.php/ijcyfs

Improving Population Health by Reducing Poverty:  New York's Earned Income Tax Credit:

http://www.peri.umass.edu/236/hash/36da388b0c9b20e1691bef535d27821b/publication/647/

EARLY LIFE OR EARLY DEATH: SUPPORT FOR CHILD HEALTH LASTS A LIFETIME: http://journals.uvic.ca/index.php/ijcyfs/article/view/13499/4312

The new resource Expanding the Boundaries: Public Health and Health Equity Practice , created by the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) Health Equity and Social Justice Committee, aims to invite dialogue among local health departments and their community allies around the social inequities underlying health inequities.

http://raisingofamerica.org/sites/default/files/ExpandingTheBoundaries-NACCHO2014.pdf?utm_source=UC+List%3A+March+2015+Screenings%2C+Updates+and+More&utm_campaign=UC+List%3A+March+2015+Screenings+%26+Campaign+Updates&utm_medium=emai

The Super Rich and Us - BBC Documentary 2015 - Rich People vs Poor People - Episode 1 http://youtu.be/gjzmHZd6s-E

Economic considerations and health in all policies initiatives: evidence from interviews with key informants in Sweden, Quebec and South Australia: click here.

Health in all policies: training manual: English

News and Information

Call for Papers for the 2015 National Indigenous Conferences

Inspired by the hugely successful staging of last year’s Indigenous Conferences in Cairns, the event organizers are now calling for papers for the five exciting events being launched this month with the  closing date of submitting paper on February 28, 2015.

The 2015 Indigenous Men’s and Indigenous Women’s Conferences will be held in Darwin on the 12th – 14th of September. Similarly, papers are also being called for the Indigenous Board of Directors Conference scheduled for the 19th – 21st of October and the 2015 National Indigenous Domestic Violence Conference to be held on 28th – 30th of October respectively. Both October events will be held at the Mercure Gold Coast Resort.

Furthermore, the 2015 National Indigenous Health Conference will be held in Cairns and scheduled for the 1st – 3rd December, 2015.

For more information, please visit the conference website at www.indigenousconferences.com or  contact us by email at adminics@iinet.net.au

The winner of the 2014 Gavin Mooney Memorial Essay Competition is NSW freelance writer El Gibbs, whose essay, “A place to call home: housing security and mental health”, will be published by Inside Story.
http://blogs.crikey.com.au/croakey/2015/01/30/a-place-to-call-home-the-winning-entry-in-gavin-mooney-memorial-essay-competition/

Thirteen public interventions in Canada that have contributed to a reduction in health inequalities

http://www.ncchpp.ca/docs/13interventions_Inequalities_EN_sansISBN_FINAL.pdf

In Montréal, social inequalities in health - differences in health status according to social class – persist, despite a significant decline in mortality over the past 20 years.

‘Those affected by social inequalities in health experience more health problems, because they are exposed to greater risks much earlier in life. If we can act upon these inequalities early on, we can influence the health of these individuals over a long period of time.’

http://www.santemontreal.qc.ca/iss/en/

A nursing module that has lots of links and reading material: http://lists.lib.plymouth.ac.uk/lists/B76FD1A5-654F-B906-4B80-55BE7A1A4765.html

Income inequality and health: A causal review Kate E. Pickett, Richard G. Wilkinson (email us if you want a copy of this paper)

Abstract: There is a very large literature examining income inequality in relation to health. Early reviews came to different interpretations of the evidence, though a large majority of studies reported that health tended to be worse in more unequal societies. More recent studies, not included in those reviews, provide substantial new evidence. Our purpose in this paper is to assess whether or not wider income differences play a causal role leading to worse health. We conducted a literature review within an epidemiological causal framework and inferred the likelihood of a causal relationship between income inequality and health (including violence) by considering the evidence as a whole. The body of evidence strongly suggests that income inequality affects population health and wellbeing. The major causal criteria of temporality, biological plausibility, consistency and lack of alternative explanations are well supported. Of the small minority of studies which find no association, most can be explained by income inequality being measured at an inappropriate scale, the inclusion of mediating variables as controls, the use of subjective rather than objective measures of health, or follow up periods which are too short. The evidence that large income differences have damaging health and social consequences is strong and in most countries inequality is increasing. Narrowing the gap will improve the health and wellbeingof populations.

Key points

• Evidence that income inequality is associated with worse health is reviewed.
• It meets established epidemiological and other scientific criteria for causality.
• The causal processes may extend to violence and other problems with social gradients.
• Reducing income inequality will improve population health and wellbeing.

Leaving no one behind: an agenda for equity

Watkins, Kevin; The Lancet. Volume 384, Issue 9961, 20 December 2014–2 January 2015, Pages 2248–2255. Published online: May 2014

Shortly before his death, Mahatma Gandhi offered a useful reflection that helps to cut through some of the complexity surrounding debates about equity. “Recall the face of the poorest and the weakest person you may have seen and ask yourself if the step you contemplate is going to be any use to them.” It’s a simple but compelling guide for policy makers concerned with combating extreme inequality. Something of the same spirit underpins the report of the High Level Panel established by the UN Secretary General to make recommendations for the post-2015 development agenda. Going beyond the identification of universal goals, the report calls for “a focus on the poorest and most marginalised” and a commitment to “leave no one behind” (panel). This approach is in-keeping with other work on the post-2015 agenda, including the Global Sustainable Development Report.2 Far more than the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)—which were largely neutral on the issue of inequality—the High Level Panel report includes a wide-ranging social justice agenda. If adopted by governments and backed by national policy commitments and a new global partnership, the Panel’s agenda could put exclusion, inequality, and marginalisation at the centre of the post-2015 development framework.  click here

Health and Disability: Partnerships in Health care

Jane Tracy, Rachael McDonald; Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities Jan 2015, 28, 22–32; Article first published online: 22 DEC 2014

Abstract: Background: Despite awareness of the health inequalities experienced by people with intellectual disability, their health status remains poor. Inequalities in health outcomes are manifest in higher morbidity and rates of premature death. Contributing factors include the barriers encountered in accessing and receiving highquality health care. Aims: This paper outlines health inequalities experienced by people with intellectual disability and focuses on the opportunities medical education provides to address these. Strategies to ensure that health professional education is inclusive of and relevant to people with disabilities are highlighted. Conclusions: The barriers experienced by people with intellectual disabilities to the receipt of high-quality health care include the attitudes, knowledge and skills of doctors. Improving medical education to ensure doctors are better equipped is one strategy to address these barriers. Improving health enhances quality of life, enables engagement and optimizes opportunities to participate in and contribute to the social and economic life of communities. click here.

9. Health Disparities, Social Determinants of Health, and Health Insurance

Rosalyn W. Stewart, Valerie G. Hardcastle, and Aaron Zelinsky; World Medical & Health Policy, Volume 6, Issue 4, pages 483-492

Abstract: We are concerned that providing insurance for the previously uninsured will be seen as a panacea for resolving health disparities, for the social environment makes a tremendous difference in health outcomes. A careful examination of the factors involved in the social determinants of health shows that health insurance plays only a small role in alleviating health disparities. In this commentary, we highlight the complexity of the problem of the social determinants of health and health disparities in the United States by comparing two neighborhoods in Baltimore City and by examining hypertension and mental health disorders. click here

10. Dorling, D., The mother of underlying causes – economic ranking and health inequality, Social Science & Medicine (2015), doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2015.01.008. Paper available on request – please email us if you can’t access it. Shared by Michael Bentley.

Wilkinson and Pickett’s findings, first published on-line in 2005 have helped to reveal the strong relationships between economic inequality and poor health outcomes in affluent nations. Their initial findings are reminiscent of the early evidence that smoking among groups of doctors increased the likelihood of members of each group dying of lung cancer. The strong correlation between smoking and cancer was understood long before a specific cause was clearly outlined.

In this paper (Pickett and Wilkinson 2015), published ten year after the initial announcement of their findings, the authors bring together the beginnings of a case of there being plausible underlying biological and related casual explanations for why people in more economically unequal affluent countries suffer worse health. They suggest that ‘Inequality is increasing in most regions of the world, rapidly in most rich countries over the past three decades’. However, income inequality has increased much faster in the UK and USA than in most other affluent nations and it has fallen in some countries (Dorling, 2014). To continue reading....view online or email us for the article.

Also worth a read...

·         Critical Public Health 25th anniversary issue: free for one month - http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/ccph20/current
 
·         The political determinants of health—10 years on: Let me know if you want to access this but can’t: http://www.bmj.com/content/350/bmj.h81
 
·         WHO Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data: Social determinants of mental health. http://www.who.int/mental_health/publications/gulbenkian_paper_social_determinants_of_mental_health/en/
 
·         Why Income Inequality Damages Us All: The causal processes (video) - Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgc-x78lVvE
 
·         The Link between Inequality and Population Health in Low and Middle Income Countries: Policy Myth or Social Reality? http://www.plosone.org/article/fetchObject.action?uri=info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0115109&representation=PDF

SDOHAN News and Information Shared - 18 December 2014

1. Launch of Green Paper – Delivering Safe and Sustainable Clinical Services

Message from the Minister for Health

Dear colleagues

Today I have released the Green Paper into the future of health services in Tasmania.

It’s an important step in our journey of making better care available for all.

As I move around the community I hear from patients, their families and carers about how much respect and admiration they have for the staff who work in our health system.

I also hear many ideas for making it better.

That’s why I announced reforms this year – One State, One Health System, Better Outcomes reforms.

I can provide a brief update on how other aspects of the reforms are progressing:

·                Creation of a single statewide Tasmanian Health Service by 1 July 2015 – preparations underway and on-track for commencement on time.

·                A new Health Council of Tasmania to provide expert clinical and consumer advice on health reform – Chaired by Denise Fassett, it was announced this week and has met for the first time.

·                Reform of the DHHS – to focus the insight and talents of its staff on managing the health system efficiently – underway.

The Green Paper I’ve released today describes the challenges facing our health system and starts the conversation about finding solutions.

Central to our reform plans is the development of a Clinical Services Profile that will describe where services can be located so that all Tasmanians have equal and fair access to better services.

We all want to have services located near where we live and, for many essential services; this is what we should strive for.

It’s important to recognise that we can’t always have complex, high-risk services in all locations.  It is not safe and it is not sustainable.

Our job is to make these hard decisions about how we balance this mix of regional and statewide services. 

I urge all Tasmanians with an interest in health service delivery to consider the details of the health Green Paper.

As you do so, please bear in mind the following:

The Green Paper isn’t about saving money; it’s about getting better health outcomes for all Tasmanians. No hospitals will close and every Tasmanian community will have access to better care. It’s about shifting the conversation from one about better access to care to one about access to better care.

The release of the Green Paper will be followed in the New Year by consultation, including with Tasmanian communities and with the health sector over the next two months.

More details of forums and meetings will be released in coming days.

Submissions will be considered before a final White Paper on health reform is released in March 2015, forming the basis of future action.

The Green Paper is located at www.dhhs.tas.gov.au/onehealthsystem

Thank you for your continuing work for the benefit of the Tasmanians we are here to serve.

  

Michael Ferguson

Minister for Health

  

Minister’s webcast on launch of Green Paper

For more information on the One State, One Health System, Better Outcomes reform package please email onehealthsystem@dhhs.tas.gov.au

2. Let’s have a conversation about the language of health - a conversation about health - where health starts - in our everyday lives

Health is influenced by lots of things & we want to find out what Tasmanians from all walks of life have to say about their health & its determinants. In 2015, the Social Determinants of Health Advocacy Network - Tasmania will oversee a project that will involve talking to people in the community about how they understand the language of social determinants of health (SDOH) - the language that they use and is meaningful to them.

“It is striking that anyone who uses the term “social determinants of health” is not likely to be someone who is at risk from them...We need a language we can all understand, and we need to hear from those who are first in the queue to be harmed.”  (Senior, T)

The project will help in unpacking a language we can all understand, which will assist us to better engage across the range of sectors and disciplines that are implicated in the SDOH. The project will present key learnings about the language of SDOH, which may contribute to enhanced community engagement and more empathetic practice. It will explore how community insights on SDOH can enhance advocacy efforts of civil society, as well as lobbyists working in the scientific space, to influence upstream policy change. Lastly, it will make recommendations about the language of SDOH, and compare findings to the work of others in this area.

We would like to hear from anyone who would like to be involved in the development of this project. If you have ideas to contribute as we plan for its implementation in 2015, please contact

Miriam : miriam_herzfeld@internode.on.net or Michael : Michael.Bentley@utas.edu.au

3. Volunteer Telephone Crisis Support

Lifeline Tasmania is opening its 2015 intake for volunteers in the Hobart region wanting to become a Telephone Crisis Supporter on the 13 11 14 crisis line.

Successful applicants will undertake extensive training, make a commitment to shifts and meet further selection criteria. This is to ensure volunteers are confident, skilled and able to provide support to Lifeline’s Callers in their time of emotional distress and crisis. If you’re interested, this type of volunteering will be very rewarding.

For further information please visit www.lifeline.org.au/Tasmania or call (03) 6282 1500 during business hours.

 

4. Some holiday reading....

- Rehospitalization Rates Highest for Poorest Neighborhoods (shared by N.J. Davy Paramedic, Ambulance Tasmania - NW Region)

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/835787

- Socks are not enough: Social justice lies upstream from charity

http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/cathycrowe/2014/12/socks-are-not-enough-social-justice-lies-upstream-charity#.VImkSEh7z-4.twitter

- Doctors at St. Mike's launch project to address root causes of poor health

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2014/12/14/doctors_at_st_mikes_launch_project_to_address_root_causes_of_poor_health.html

- The wealth gap

Watch the video: http://www.broadbentinstitute.ca/wealthgap

- My Doctor Makes Me Sick

http://www.liv.ac.uk/heseltine-institute/policy-provocations/doctor-makes-me-sick/

- Inequality hurts economic growth, finds OECD research

http://www.oecd.org/newsroom/inequality-hurts-economic-growth.htm

- ‘But they just can’t kill the beast’: the ongoing neoliberal plague

In this guest post, Ronald Labonté traces the history of neoliberalism through structural adjustment programs, the Great Recession and into current Austerity Agendas. Labont é examines why neoliberalism continues to dominate economic agendas and what types of policy messages are needed to combat the resulting health plagues. This post is cross-posted at Global Health Watch in support of the latest alternative world health report. Labonté holds a Canada Research Chair in Globalization and Health Equity at the Institute of Population Health, and is Professor in the Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa; and in the Faculty of Health Sciences, Flinders University of South Australia.  

Last news shared with the Social Determinants of Health Advocacy Network of Tasmania

Senate Select Committee on Health – Interim Report now available (we put in a submission and appeared before the Committee)

http://www.aph.gov.au/~/media/Committees/Senate/committee/health_ctte/first_interim_report/report.pdf

Joint Select Committee on Preventative Health Care – please submit

We prepared a submission to this Committee last time and will probably do so again. If you would like to contribute please get in touch. The deadline is Monday 16 February 2015. For the terms of reference and further information: http://www.parliament.tas.gov.au/ctee/Joint/PHC1.htm

Southern Rethink Mental Health Project CSO Consultation

We invite you to the Southern Rethink Mental Health Project CSO Consultation. This consultation will be held on the 15 December 2014, 1pm – 3pm, Hockey Function Centre, 19 Bell Street, Newtown. (Please contact the Mental Health Council to find out about consultations in other parts of the state).

As you may be aware, the Rethink Mental Health Project is aimed at providing an independent analysis of the current mental health services being provided in Tasmania, and the gaps and barriers that exist within the sector. The information gathered in this analysis will guide future system reform and investment.

The questions that will be asked at the consultation, as well as a more detailed overview of the Rethink Mental Health Project, are in the Discussion paper -http://www.dhhs.tas.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/173484/DP-2014-10-10_Final.pdf . We would appreciate your consideration of this document prior to the meeting, keeping in mind that not all areas will be covered during consultation.  Participants will be provided with information on further involvement in the Project following the group consultation.

Please RSVP to Project2@mhct.org by the 12th December 2014. 

We hope to see many of you there.

Thanks and regards,

Jade Standaloft

Mental Health Council of Tasmania

P 03 6224 9222 | |W www.mhct.org

Recommendations towards a Global Convention to protect and promote healthy diets

http://www.consumersinternational.org/news-and-media/resource-zone/recommendations-towards-a-global-convention-to-protect-and-promote-healthy-diets/

This set of recommendations (available in English, Spanish or French) towards a Global Convention to protect and promote healthy diets has been developed to encourage policy makers to build on the work of the UN to combat obesity and non-communicable diseases (NCDs).

Ten years after the launch of the WHO Global Strategy on Diet Physical Activity and Health, no country has succeeded in significantly reversing the rising tide of obesity or diabetes. Cardiovascular diseases are rapidly increasing in many lower middle-income countries. Change is urgently needed.

The ‘wonderfulness’ of children’s feeding programs

http://heapro.oxfordjournals.org/content/18/2/163.full.pdf+html

Abstract:

When people involved in children’s feeding programs were asked to describe them, without exception they were described using phrases that reflected the perception of ‘wonderfulness’. This paper critically analyses the ‘wonderfulness’ of children’s feeding programs by examining the language used to describe these programs, and the features of a ‘wonderful’ program through an analysis of a multi-site, qualitative case study of nine diverse programs in Atlantic Canada. When participants justified their comments about the ‘wonderfulness’ of children’s feeding programs, they did so based upon five perceptions of program strengths: enhanced family coping; providing good food and nutrition; socializing and making friends; behaving well in school; and volunteerism. We suggest that programs can be designed to be innately ‘wonderful’ if they are community- and charity-based, support a noble cause such

as the elimination of child hunger, engage good people as donors and volunteers, and provide a direct service to children apart from their families. We challenge health promoters to beware of the ‘wonderful’ program; its ‘wonderfulness’ may actually be masking unintended negative impacts upon its participants.

The Politics of Poverty

http://socialalternatives.com/sites/default/files/pdf/issue/free/sa_vol_32_1.pdf#page=5

Health at a Glance: Europe 2014

OECD, Published: 3 December 2014

Abstract

 This third edition of Health at a Glance: Europe presents a set of key indicators related to health status, determinants of health, health care resources and activities, quality of care, access to care, and health expenditure and financing in 35 European countries, including the 28 European Union member states, four candidate countries and three EFTA countries. The selection of indicators is based largely on the European Core Health Indicators (ECHI) shortlist, a set of indicators that has been developed to guide the reporting of health statistics in the European Union. This is complemented by additional indicators on quality of care, access to care and health expenditure, building on the OECD expertise in these areas. Compared with the previous edition, this third edition includes a greater number of ECHI indicators, reflecting progress in the availability of comparable data in the areas of non-medical determinants of health and access to care. It also includes a new chapter dedicated to access to care, including selected indicators on financial access, geographic access and timely access.

Read the full text:   click here

Health Inequalities and the 1% - Wolfson Annual Lecture 2014

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfvCL-c1swk&list=UUmY_l-JTJH-ztouzuc9pDMg

The Wolfson Research Institute welcomed Professor Danny Dorling to deliver the Wolfson Research Institute for Health and Wellbeing's Annual Lecture 'Health Inequalities and the 1%' on Wednesday 19 November 2014.

Global Wage Report 2014/15 - Wages and income inequality

http://www.ilo.org/global/publications/books/WCMS_324678/lang--en/index.htm

The 2014/15 edition examines the link between wages and inequality at the household level. It shows that wages constitute the largest single source of income for households with at least one member of working age in most countries and points to changes in wages and paid employment as key factors underlying recent trends in inequality. The report also considers wage gaps between certain groups, such as those between women and men, migrants and nationals, and workers in the informal and formal economy.

Inequality can be addressed through policies that affect wage distribution directly or indirectly, as well as through fiscal redistribution. However, increasing inequality in the labour market places a heavier burden on efforts to reduce inequality through taxes and transfers. The report thus emphasizes the need for combined policy action that includes minimum wages, strengthened collective bargaining, interventions to eliminate wage gaps, the promotion of paid employment and redistribution through taxes and transfers.

Resources, Principles, and the Practice of Health Equity

A compilation of training resources for community health care service providers in the Champlain region

Regional and Remote Australians face more health care barriers  

People living in outer regional or very remote areas of Australia were more likely to face barriers to accessing health care compared with people living in major cities.  Click here to read more.

Building a good life: the role of natural supports in recovery from mental illness

Anglicare Tasmania, Social Action Research Centre (SARC)

One in two Australians will experience mental illness at some point in their lives. Many, however, will live in recovery. This research explores the lived experience of people recovering from mental illness across Tasmania and asks them how natural supports helped them to reclaim their lives. Natural supports are those that typically occur in everyday life and include relationships with family, friends, peers and other social networks.

The Building a good life research identifies the range of natural supports used by people recovering from mental illness, explores the links between natural supports and social inclusion and recovery, and reviews how mental health service providers currently understand and experience their work in helping people make the most of natural supports.

To join the SARC mailing list & for more information about the work of SARC, look at the Anglicare website or contact sarc@anglicare-tas.org.au, phone (03) 6213 3567.

Croakey News...

Dear Croakey contributors

Just a quick note to let you know of some recent developments at Croakey.

• Dr Melissa Stoneham from the Public Health Advocacy Institute WA is calling for health professionals, and particularly Indigenous health professionals, to support a campaign re the threatened closure of remote communities. If you would like to add your signature to letters to politicians, please contact her at: m.stoneham@curtin.edu.au
http://blogs.crikey.com.au/croakey/2014/11/30/indigenous-health-professionals-urged-to-support-campaign-against-closure-of-remote-indigenous-communities/

• The latest Health Wrap, by Kellie Bisset covers a wealth of health news, from local to national and global, including the Co-payment, Victorian election, Indigenous health, health reform and public health
http://blogs.crikey.com.au/croakey/2014/12/02/the-health-wrap-copayment-confusion-vicvotes-overcoming-indigenous-disadvantage-making-systems-work-for-health/

• Don’t miss the latest column from The Koori Woman/Kelly Briggs – on why there were no surprises for her in the recent First Contact program on SBS
http://blogs.crikey.com.au/croakey/2014/11/26/the-koori-woman-no-surprises-for-me-in-first-contact/

• You can download a copy of Marie McInerney’s indepth coverage of the recent Australian Indigenous Doctors Association conference in this interactive PDF
https://www.dropbox.com/s/qg1km0uoxlw5ztu/AIDA_Conf_2014.pdf?dl=0

• Thanks to all who contributed to Croakey’s recent G20 coverage, which is compiled here:
http://blogs.crikey.com.au/croakey/?cat=1648

And finally, if you would like to support some improvements to the Croakey site while also knocking off the Christmas shopping and getting yourself some nifty public health T-shirts/mugs etc – please check out the new Croakey merchandise range at Redbubble (you can get the designs as T-shirts, pillow case covers, phone covers, cards, mugs etc)
http://www.redbubble.com/people/rocklilydesign/collections/341262-croakey

Many thanks to Ben Harris-Roxas, Tim Senior and Lesley Russell for suggesting the designs.

All the best
Melissa Sweet

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This post has been compiled for the Social Determinants of Health Network in Tasmania.

The Network has been established to help people work together to leverage action on the Social Determinants of Health.

The social determinants of health are the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work, play and age. They are sometimes referred to as ‘the causes of the causes’ because they are the underlying reasons why people experience poor health.

For more information about the social determinants of health download the action sheets on the TasCOSS website: www.tascoss.org.au.

The vision of the Network is for All Tasmanians to have the opportunity to live a long, healthy life regardless of their income, education, employment, gender, sexuality, capabilities, cultural background, who they are or where they live.

Anyone who shares in this vision can join. It’s free of charge. To join please email your details to socialdeterminantsofhealthtas@gmail.com

The Network operates on a voluntary basis.

Please feel free to forward this to people who may be interested.

www.sdohan.blogspot.com                      Twitter: @SDOHTas

SDOHAN Information Shared

Time is running out to take part in the 2014 Regional Wellbeing Survey 

The National Rural Health Alliance is pleased to support the 2014 Regional Wellbeing Survey. The Centre for Research and Action in Public Health conducts the survey to support research that improves the wellbeing and quality of life for people living in rural and regional Australia.

We need your help to hear their views. The 2014 survey is still open but closes at midnight Sunday 30 November. Please participate and forward this email to others who might be interested in the survey. You can do the survey online at www.regionalwellbeing.org.au. Or call 1800 981 499 if you’d like a paper survey, or any other help. You can choose to do a short, regular or long version of the survey. The survey is voluntary, confidential and anonymous.
Many communities are now using the Regional Wellbeing Survey’s results as a key resource. To see last year’s results, click here.

Thank you for sharing the survey and your valuable insights.

Damien Hickman
Policy and Communications
National Rural Health Alliance

2011-13 Australian Health Survey | National and Tasmanian Results 

Date:     Wednesday 26 November

Time:     2.00 – 3.30 pm

Venue:                 Menzies Research Institute Tasmania. 17 Liverpool St, Hobart

Medical Science 1 Lecture Theatre (Room 105)

The 2011-13 Australian Health Survey (AHS) is the largest and most comprehensive health survey ever conducted in Australia. The survey was designed to collect a range of information from Australians about health related issues, including health status, risk factors, socioeconomic circumstances, health-related actions and use of medical services. In 2011-13, the AHS collected new information on nutrition and physical activity. It also included the first national biomedical information collection.

The session will include discussion of:
1. National and Tasmanian results from 4364.0.55.007 Australian Health Survey: Nutrition First Results – Food and Nutrients, 2011-12
2. National and Tasmanian results from 4364.0.55.055 Australian Health Survey: Biomedical Results for Chronic Diseases, 2011-12
3. National and Tasmanian results from 4727.0.55.033  Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey: Biomedical results, 2012-13

There will be an opportunity for questions at the end.

Presentation by:

Louise Gates, Director, ABS Health Section

Louise is responsible for the analysis and dissemination of information related to health. In particular, she is responsible for the output of the Australian Health Survey including the nutrition, physical activity and biomedical components and also the Patient Experience Survey as well as forward planning for future cycles of these surveys.

Mental Health Carers Tasmania – Caring Voices Project

Mental Health Carers Tasmania are excited to launch the Caring Voices Project. If you are a Carer we would welcome your participation. Further information is detailed below. 

Do you care for a person with mental ill health?

We know that being a carer of a person with mental ill health can be both rewarding & challenging

As part of the Caring Voices Project, we would like to hear your story

Mental Health Carers Tasmania wants to develop a better understanding of the issues faced by mental health carers so that we can improve community understanding & advocate for the rights and needs of mental health carers in Tasmania

A mental health carer is someone who provides unpaid physical, practical or emotional support to a family member, friend, neighbour or colleague with mental ill health

Participating in the Caring Voices Project will involve completing either a written or online survey, or a telephone or face-to-face interview

The online survey is available at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/caringvoices until Monday 15th December 2014.

For a written copy of the survey, to register for an interview or for more information please contact Mental Health Carers Tasmania on 6228 7448 or email admin@mentalhealthcarerstas.org.au

Confidentiality of personal contact details is assured – participants’ names will not be disclosed

Good Health: A powerful tool in the fight against inequality: http://www.globalhealthcheck.org/?p=1700 

Rethink Mental Health

A Discussion paper has been prepared to start the discussion about our mental health service system, what it looks like now, what it should look like into the future and what should be in our a long term plan for mental health in Tasmania.

Visit: http://www.dhhs.tas.gov.au/mentalhealth/rethink_mental_health_project and have your say.