How health promotion based on the Ottawa Charter promotes social justice
How health promotion based on the Ottawa Charter promotes social justice requires you to identify connections between the five (5) action areas and the principles of social justice covered in Preliminary PDHPE. WHO states that health promotion should advocate, enable, and mediate. That is, health promotion should seek to make political, economic, social, cultural, environmental, behavioural and biological factors promote health, through advocating for health.
Health promotion aims to reduce inequities in health status, ensuring equal opportunities and resources for health. This enables people to achieve the best health possible as they have a supportive environment, access to information, life skills and opportunities for making healthy choices. The health sector cannot achieve health alone and must work with others who mediate for health. This includes professional and social groups and health personnel mediating between differing interests in society for the pursuit of health.
This is how health promotion based on the Ottawa Charter promotes social justice principles. The table below will also assist in this analysis.
Investigate the principles of social justice under the action areas of the Ottawa Charter
Equity | Diversity | Supportive Environments | |
Build healthy public policy | Public policy is designed with the aim of producing equity in health status. Eg) Medicare provides access to health services for socioeconomically disadvantaged people | Public policy accounts for the diversity of our population, seeking to provide for all people groups. Eg) The ‘close the gap’ initiative aims to remove the health inequity for ATSI people in 1 generation. | Policy should aim to produce an environment that supports healthy choices. Eg) no smoking in pubs and clubs |
Create supportive environments for health | An environment is not supportive if it does not seek to provide equity. Eg) increasing access to health facilities for rural and remote people. | In order to be supportive, the environment must also cater for the diversity of the people in that environment. Eg) providing translators for specific groups in specific community health centres/hospitals etc | Creating environments that encourage healthy choices is vital in health promotion. Eg) ensuring good parks for outdoor activities |
Strengthen community action for health | Equity both with and between communities is important in health promotion. Communities of people suffering inequity in health need to be utilised and empowered in order to improve their health. Eg) ATSI involved in the development and implementation of health promotion for ATSI. | Each community has its own diversity and needs to be consulted in health promotion. Eg) large Jewish population in Bondi, Lebanese in Bankstown etc should be empowered in relation to health promotion initiative specific for them. | Communities that become empowered need an environment that supports their healthy choices. This requires access and availability of services and facilities. Eg) bushwalks being maintained in the blue mountains to encourage locals to walk |
Develop personal skills | All people should have access to education and skill development regardless of socioeconomic, sociocultural and environmental determinants. Eg) PDHPE | Programs should be personalised to cater for the diversity in our population (ethnic, socioeconomic, geographic etc). Eg) health pamphlets in multiple languages utilising images | People share their skills and knowledge within their environment making it more supportive.Eg) parents educate and model for their children, who do the same in their peer groups |
Re-orient health services | Health services must address the inequities in health. Eg) mental health promotion and services in rural and remote locations | Health services must meet the diverse needs of the communities they are in. Eg) promoting balanced diet amongst ATSI people | Health services must help provide a supportive environment. Eg) Multi Purpose Service Program for rural and remote people |
This is how health promotion based on the Ottawa Charter promotes social justice principles.
Extension
Often when reading through past HSC sample answers we find a different list of social justice principles. These come from the Department of Health and are Participation, Equity, Access, and Rights. They are easy to remember by learning them as a fruit P.E.A.R. You can learn how they connect with the Ottawa Charter by reading the article I wrote Principles of Social Justice.