Municipal Public Health Planning Framework

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Appendix 1: Glossary

Collaboration

A 'mechanism by which a new negotiated order emerges among a set of stakeholders'. In other words, the stakeholders interact with one another to negotiate a new set of shared norms, informal and formal rules of behaviour, and a shared understanding of the problems to be solved and the goals to be pursued in their relationships with one another. [Ref: 1]

Community

A group of people who not only live in proximity to one another, but who also share common interests or concerns. It may refer to an ethnic or cultural group, a neighbourhood, those who have similar social, economic or health conditions or even a group of organisations or agencies that have a common interest. A specific group of people, often living in a defined geographical area, who share a common culture, share values and norms, and are arranged in a social structure according to relationships that the community has developed over a period of time. Members of the community gain their personal and social identity by sharing common beliefs, values and norms that have been developed by the community in the past and may be modified in the future. They exhibit some awareness to their identity as a group, and share common needs and a commitment to meeting them. [Ref: 2]

Community building

Community building should be understood as a joined-up way of thinking and working to achieve better social, economic and environmental outcomes, particularly in areas characterised by disadvantage. Community building is based on:

• Harnessing and energising the strengths, resources, creativity and energy of communities to design and implement distinctively local responses and actions.

• Collaboration between governments, business, local communities and the voluntary and philanthropic sectors, recognising that no single partner can achieve the desired outcomes alone.

• Enhanced relationships and networks that promote social, economic and electronic connectedness, mutuality and trust.

• Combining the physical, intellectual and financial resources of State and local government, communities and other contributors to promote social and economic development in communities. [Ref: 3]

Community capacity building

Development work - involving training and providing resources - that strengthens the ability of community organisations and groups to build structures, systems and skills that enable them to participate and take community action. [Ref: 4]

Community development

A way of working underpinned by a commitment to equity, social justice, participation and empowerment that enables people to identify common concerns and that supports them in taking action related to them. [Ref: 5]

Community wellbeing

Wellbeing refers to the condition or state of being well, contented and satisfied with life. Wellbeing has several components, including physical, mental, social and spiritual. Wellbeing can be used in a collective sense, to describe how well a society satisfies people's wants and needs. [Ref: 6]

Consultation

Often forms an integral part of statutory urban planning processes and involves people being referred to for information and asked their opinions. Although this implies that communities' views may be taken into consideration, it has not generally meant that people are actively engaged in the decision making process. [Ref: 7]

Empowerment

The process by which people gain efficacy and control over their own lives while learning to participate democratically in the life of their community. [Ref: 8] Empowerment not only conveys a psychological sense of control, but is also concerned with actual social influence, political power and the rights of all individuals and communities. [Ref: 9]

Environmental health

Environmental health refers to those aspects of human health and disease that are determined by factors in the environment. It also refers to the theory and practice of assessing and controlling factors in the environment that can potentially affect health. Environmental health includes both the direct pathological effects of chemicals, radiation and some biological agents, and the effects (often indirect) on health and wellbeing of the broad physical, psychological, social, and aesthetic environment, which includes housing, urban development, land use and transport. [Ref: 10]

Equity

Equity in health implies that ideally everyone should have a fair opportunity to attain their full health potential, and, more pragmatically, that no one should be disadvantaged from achieving this potential, if it can be avoided. The term inequity refers to the differences in health that are not only unnecessary and avoidable but, in addition, are considered unfair and unjust. Equity in health is the absence of systematic differences in one or more aspects of health across socially, economically, demographically defined population groups or subgroups. Inequity in health refers to the systematic differences across the same domains. [Ref: 11]

Governance

Democratically elected councils have responsibility to their constituents for good governance of their municipalities within the terms of the Victorian Local Government Act. Council's governing role includes such responsibilities as strategic planning, advocacy, coordination, representation on behalf of all citizens, facilitation of community participation and management of the community's assets.

Within a local government context, Councillors have a responsibility for the direction and success of a complex corporate entity. As for many other organisations managed by elected individuals, Councillors have a broad responsibility to ensure that the corporate organisation is managed effectively and is accountable to their constituents. At an operational level, the Chief Executive Officer and corporate managers are delegated responsibility to support the council's broad governance responsibilities and manage council programs and services. [Ref: 12]

Health

Health is defined in the WHO constitution as:

"A state of complete physical, social and mental wellbeing, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity." In functional terms, health is a resource which permits people to lead an individually, social and economically productive life. Health is a resource for everyday life, not the object for living, a positive concept emphasising social and personal resources as well as physical capabilities. The Ottawa Charter emphasises certain prerequisites for health, which include peace, adequate economic resources, food and shelter, and a stable eco-system and sustainable resource use. Recognition of these prerequisites highlights the inextricable links between social and economic conditions, the physical environment, individual lifestyles and health. [Ref: 13]

Health development

Health development is the process of continuous, progressive improvement of the health status of individuals and groups in a population. [Ref: 14]

Health outcomes

A change in the health status of an individual, group or population which is attributable to a planned intervention or series of interventions, regardless of whether such an intervention was intended to change health status. [Ref: 15]

Health promotion

Health promotion is the process of enabling people to increase control over, and to improve their health. A comprehensive social and political process that embraces actions to strengthen the skills and capabilities of individuals and actions directed towards changing social, environmental and economic conditions to alleviate their impact on public and individual health. Participation is essential to sustain health promotion action. [Ref: 16]

Investment for health

Investment for health refers to resources that are explicitly dedicated to the production of health and health gain. They may be invested by public and private agencies, as well as by people as individuals and groups. Investment for health strategies are based on knowledge of the determinants of health and seek to gain political commitment to healthy public policy. [Ref: 17]

Involvement

"A term often used synonymously with participation. It implies being included as a necessary part of something." [Ref: 18]

New public health

Emphasises strategies outlined in the Ottawa Charter, such as strengthening community action, developing health-promoting environments and public health policy. [Ref: 19]

Participation

A process by which people are enabled to become actively and genuinely involved in defining the issues of concern to them, in making decisions about factors that affect their lives, in formulating and implementing policies, in planning, developing and delivering services and in taking action to achieve change. [Ref: 20]

Population health approach

A population health approach emphasises a view of the community as a whole, addressing the key determinants of health and wellbeing of the population and reducing health inequities, in addition to treating and supporting individuals. Population health activity encompasses organised responses to promote and protect health, to prevent illness, injury and disability, to decrease the burden of illness and to restore and rehabilitate those with chronic disease. It also encompasses an understanding of the social and economic determinants of health. Individual care and a community focus complement each other and lead to better health and wellbeing outcomes by addressing health and community support issues from different perspectives. [Ref: 21]

Primary care

The first level of care, generally provided in an ambulatory setting (as opposed to secondary and tertiary care which would normally be hospital-based). Primary health care is the central function and main focus of a country's health system, the principal vehicle for the delivery of health care, the most peripheral level in a health system stretching from the periphery to the centre, and an integral part of the social and economic development of a country. [Ref: 22]

Public health

Public health is the science and art of promoting health, preventing disease, and prolonging life through the organised efforts of society. It is a social and political concept, aimed at improving the quality of life among whole populations through health promotion, disease prevention and other forms of intervention. Approaches that are usually considered to come under the umbrella of public health include health protection, health promotion and disease prevention. [Ref: 23, 24, 25]

Social capital

Term used to describe what creates and sustains groups of people in society. It refers to the forms of social cohesion or 'social glue' that enable people to work together civilly, in formal and informal groupings. [Ref: 26]

Social model of health

A social view of health implies that we must intervene to change those aspects of the environment which are promoting ill health, rather than continue to simply deal with illness after it appears, or continue to exhort individuals to change their attitudes and lifestyles when, in fact, the environment in which they live and work gives them little or no choice or support for making such changes. [Ref: 27]

Sustainable development

Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. It incorporates many elements, and all sectors, including the health sector, which must achieve it. [Ref: 28]

References

1. Walker, J. 2000 (citing Gray), Collaboration and alliances: A review for VicHealth.
   
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2. Health promotion glossary, WHO, Geneva, 1998. Available: http://www.who.int/hpr/NPH/docs/hp_glossary_en.pdf
   
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3. Ali, D. and Pfeffer, M. 2001, from the summary of the Community Buildings Initiative Network Workshop sponsored by the Community Support Fund.
   
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4. Community participation in local health and sustainable development: a working document on approaches and techniques, WHO, Geneva, 1999. Available: http://www.who.dk/healthy-cities/UrbanHealthTopics/20020114_1
   
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5. Community participation in local health and sustainable development: a working document on approaches and techniques, WHO, Geneva, 1999, p.10
   
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6. Eckersley, R. (ed.) 1998, Measuring progress: Is Life Getting Better?, CSIRO Publishing, Canberra. Available: http://www.publish.csiro.au/books/bookpage.cfm?PID=1555
   
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7. Community participation in local health and sustainable development: a working document on approaches and techniques, WHO, Geneva, 1999.
   
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8. Zimmerman, M.A. and Rappaport, J. 1988, 'Citizen participation, perceived control and psychological empowerment', American Journal of Community Psychology, 16, 725-750.
   
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9. Rappaport, J. 1987, 'Terms of empowerment/exemplars of prevention: Toward a theory for community psychology', American Journal of Community Psychology, 15, 121-148.
   
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10. Health for All Targets: the health policy for Europe, WHO Regional Office for Europe, Copenhagen, 1993. (European Health for All series, No.4)
    
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11. Health for All Targets, WHO, Copenhagen, 1993.
    
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12. Municipal Association of Victoria and Victorian Local Governance Association: Code of Good Governance, MAV, 1997.
    
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13. Health promotion glossary, WHO, Geneva, 1998.
    
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14. Health for All Targets, WHO, Copenhagen, 1993.
    
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15. Health promotion glossary, WHO, Geneva, 1998.
    
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16. Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion, WHO, Geneva, 1986.
    
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17. Health promotion glossary, WHO, Geneva, 1998.
    
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18. Community participation in local health and sustainable development: a working document on approaches and techniques, WHO, Geneva, 1999, p.9.
    
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19. Harris, E. and Wills, J. 1997, 'Developing healthy communities at local government level: Lessons from the past decade' Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 21, 403-412.
    
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20. Community participation in local health and sustainable development: a working document on approaches and techniques, WHO, Geneva, 1999, p.9.
    
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21. Department of Human Services 2001, Integrated Service Planning: Interim Guidelines, Primary Care Partnerships, Aged, Community and Mental Health Division.
22. Health for All Targets, WHO, Copenhagen, 1993.
    
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23. Report of the Committee of Inquiry into the Future Development of the Public Health Function (Acheson Report), HMSO, London, 1988.
    
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24. Health for All Targets, WHO, Copenhagen, 1993.
    
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25. Future directions in public health in NSW: a consultation paper, NSW Health, Sydney, 1999.
    
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26. Health promotion glossary, WHO, Geneva, 1998.
    
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27. Department of Human Services 2000, Primary Care Partnerships Draft Health Promotion Guidelines.
    
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28. Health and Environment in Sustainable Development: Five Years after the Earth Summit, WHO, Geneva, 1997.
    
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